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talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”----------Jack Kerouac |
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Born: March 12, 1922 Place of Birth: Lowell, Massachusetts Died: October 21, 1969
Place of Death: St. Petersburgh, Florida |
"I like too many things and get all confused and hung up running
from one falling star to another till I drop. This is
the night, what It does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody
but my own confusion".
"Mankind will someday realize that we actually are in constant
contact with the dead and with the other world,
whatever it is".
Jack Kerouac, born Jean-Louis Kerouac in Lowell, Massachusetts, in
1922 was the youngest of three children. His family was French American, and his first language was not english. Even as a young child he was a natural story teller, but in school he turned to athletics, and as he got older, won a scholarship to play football at Columbia University in New York. While at Columbia Jack met Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Neal Cassady.
After fighting with the football coach, and doing poorly in school, he
dropped out during his sophomore year and joined the Merchant Marine.
From that time on, he began his travels around the country, and began
writing his first novels. His first book was The Town and the City, but the book which immortalized his wild treks across the United States with Neal Cassady, was On the Road. This book became the basis for what the
Beat Generation was all about. Later he wrote many other books including The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and The Subterraneans.
With his new found fame in writing, he was unable to handle the criticism of his books and turned to alcohol. Throughout his life, he was married several times, but alcohol and his wild side won over him and he got divorced. In his last years he fought alcoholism, but it finally over took him in 1969 at the age of 47.
Charters, Ann. The Portable Jack Kerouac. New York: Penguin Books 1996.
A book of selected works by Jack Kerouac. A collection of some of his best writing. It has some good information on him. Some of this information is from this book.
Daltrey, Peter. "Subterranean Homesick Jack Kerouac Revisited" Online. Internet.
http://home.clara.net/chelsea/jk.htm
A great biography of Jack Kerouac. It is rather long and involved, but still well worth the time to read. This page has everything that is known about Jack Kerouac. Many images came from this sight.
Jack Kerouac Foundation. "Jack Kerouac Bibliography" Online. Internet.
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/kerouac/biblio.html
A full listing of the works of Jack Kerouac. It includes the publishing dates for all of his published works. It also has a very good design. This list was used to create the one on this site.
Kerouac, Jack. In The Ring. The Atlantic Monthly. 1968 March; 221(3): 110-111.
An article written by Kerouac about boxing. A unique perspective on the sport in the words of Jack Kerouac. A quote from this article has been used to give an example of Kerouac's style.
Kerouac, Jack. On the Road. New York: Penguin Books 1976.
Kerouac's autobiographical work about his wild adventures across America with Neal Cassady. He portrays himself and Neal through the characters Sal Paradise(Kerouac) and Dean Moriarty(Cassady). Quotes have been pulled from this book to give insight into the mind of Jack Kerouac.
Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Penguin Books 1976.
Another autobiographical work about Kerouac's travels and adventures. Uses imaginary characters to represent himself and others. An excerpt has been pulled from this book. Excerpt used to show Kerouac's writing style.
Pate, Nancy. Jack Kerouac's Words Stand Up To Time. The Orlando Sentinel. 1997.
A good article about Jack Kerouac and his work. Talks about how his writing is still extremely popular. It gives more insight into Jack Kerouac's mind. This article is used to give an example of another person's opinion of Kerouac.
Snowdon, Jon. "Jack Kerouac Page" Online. Internet.
http://home.earthlink.net/~yoda2/indexnfr.htm
Another good biographical Jack Kerouac page. It is full of information and pictures of Kerouac. It has links to other Kerouac sites and other beat poet sites. Some of the pictures and the author's introduction from Lonesome Traveler came from this site.
Weingeist, Rob. "Jack Kerouac's World" Online. Internet.
http://www.avalon.net/~rob/kerouac/
A good biographical webpage on Jack Kerouac. It has lots of pictures and links. It has links to beat information as well as Jack Kerouac. Some images and some information come from this website.
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"If you ever see an amateur heavyweight whacking away full-fisted at a sandbag and making the whole gym creak, you'll learn never to start a fight with any big boy you ever do meet in any bar from Portland Maine to Portland Oregon." -Jack Kerouac "In The Ring" |
