Editor/poet David Trinidad, poet Amy Gerstler, and publisher Ruth Greenstein reflect on the dynamic mind behind Punk Rock is Cool for the End of the World: Poems and Notebooks of Ed Smith. A poignant and disarming writer, Ed Smith teased and tested what language could do, influenced by the early ‘80s Los Angeles poetry scene at Beyond Baroque. His certain kind of Los Angeles attitude is discussed. A writer who wrote to the future, his poems are part of the present now.