Ford was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and moved with his parents to Pasadena, California toward the end of World War II.
[1] His first reading of his poetry occurred at a Fund Raiser for Norman Mailer's run for Mayor of New York in 1969 with Jim Morrison lead singer The Doors and poets Jack Hirschman, Michael McClure and several Andy Warhol "Factory workers"[2] The motif of many of Ford's works, be it collaborative cd recordings or written poetry is that he resurrects iconic figures ranging from actresses Susan Hayward, Dorothy McGuire to legendary jazzmen such as Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus.
His work conjures and preserves the ambience of woebegone days of Los Angeles, the neglected regions and landmarks from the Pacific Northwest to the shores of Lake Michigan, marking passages of time in America.
[3] Many of Ford's poetic narrations especially accompanied by former Doors drummer John Densmore would trace the roots of American music, mainly hardcore jazz.
[4] Ford’s 2014 release of spoken eleven poems album, Look Each Other in the Ears, is another collaborative project of infusing notable musicians such as from The Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, drummer John Densmore and the late keyboardist Ray Manzarek.