D. A. Levy
American writer (1942–1968)

d.a. levy (October 29, 1942 – November 24, 1968), born Darryl Alfred Levey (later changed to Darryl Allen Levy), was an American poet, artist, and alternative publisher active during the 1960s, based in Cleveland, Ohio. He consistently signed his work with lower-case letters.
Biography
Levy was born to Joseph J. and Carolyn Levey on Cleveland's near West side. Toward the end of his high school years and later, after a short stint in the Navy, Levy decided to read everything and write everything, and lose himself in the search for infinity. He later found a creative outlet in publishing on a small printing press. During this time he also discovered an important spiritual outlet in Buddhism, though Jewish by birth.
He published his own and others' works, printed on his hand press, or in mimeographed editions through his Renegade Press and Seven Flowers Press. His intense awareness of the gritty and burgeoning art scene of Cleveland, which included drugs and sex, and his need to express this scene which he felt a way of attaining enlightenment, meant that he was not welcome in the political environment.
Obscenity trial
In 1966, he was indicted for distributing obscene poetry to minors.
The public source identifies “D. A. Levy” as american writer (1942–1968). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Levy, American and writer.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5203474. VIAF identifies the subject as 45750823. The Library of Congress control number is n85252575. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1968 and 1966.
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This entry incorporates text from “D. A. Levy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.