Kerouac Jack - Kerouac: his life and work

Paul Maher Jr. is an independent scholar with a B.A. in American Studies and an M.A. in English. He is the editor of Empty Phantoms: Collected Interviews with Jack Kerouac (2004) as well as a collection of interviews with jazz legend Miles Davis (untitled 2007). Maher is also the author of Home Ill Never Be: Jack Kerouac and On the Road (2007). Currently, he is researching and writing a full-length biography of Henry David Thoreau. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife Tina and two daughters, Chloe and Rachel.

It is gratifying to acknowledge the assistance of the numerous individuals and institutions in the making of this biography. One person in particular deserves special mention: my sincere thanks to John Sampas for sharing his wealth of knowledge of Jack Kerouac and for his adept management of this important American writers legacy. John was always available to discuss matters of Kerouac biography. Thanks also to Sterling Lord Literistic for permission to quote from Kerouacs published works.

For their help, in more ways than one, thanks to David Amram, for his infectious enthusiasm toward my ideas and for his thoughtful foreword; Adira Amram, who assisted me graciously with research in New York City; Cindy Adler and Michael Barton, for their extremely helpful comments and corrections on portions of the first draft; and Brenda LaFlemme, for proofreading vital parts of the second draft. Also invaluable was input from Judy and Kerry Machado, the late John Pendergast, Ed Metz, Victor Bockris, Lucien Carr, Stan Isaacs, Cliff Lewis, Claire Ignacio, John Cohen, Duke Chiungos, Jeannette Brown, Joseph Salvano, James Dowling, James Atsalis, Joseph Sullivan, Betty Watley, Betty Sampas, Matthew Velasquez, Aaron Latham, Howard Smith, Jim Sampas, and several Lowell citizens who preferred to stay anonymous lest they be implicated. Thanks to Steve Edington for his crucial study of Kerouacs Canadian roots; offshoot sources led to other secrets of Kerouacs Canadian/Breton ancestors. My indebtedness to other Kerouac scholars living and dead is indicated in the source notes to this volume. No list, however, can do ample justice to the vast number of individuals, institutions, and collections that made this biography possible. To those especially I remain indebted.

For their enormously informative staff and scholarly resources I thank Isaac Gerwitz and his assistants at the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library: Diana Burnham, Philip Milito, and Stephen Crook. Thanks to the University of Massachusetts and its Center for Lowell History, especially to Martha Mayo, Shirley Rathbun, Francis Endyke, and James McNamara. Sincere appreciation to Jo August Hills of the Lowell National Park Service, for sharing with me the many precious documents archiving Lowells rich history; the Allen Ginsberg Trust and the Wylie Agency, for permissions to quote from unpublished works of Allen Ginsberg; the Newberry Library, for various items pertaining to Vikings publishing relationship with Kerouac; and the Malcolm Cowley Archive. Others who have helped over the years to enrich my knowledge of Kerouac and the beats include Hilary Holladay, Douglas Brinkley, Michael Schumacher, Paul Marion, Matt Theado, and Ben Giamo. The late Allen Ginsberg cleared up many inconsistencies in prior biographies about the literary influences of the beat generation when I briefly interviewed him in 1994. I am grateful to photographer Elliott Erwitt for his wonderful images (one of which graces the books cover), to Antonio Rubino for his 1962 Northport pictures of Kerouac, and again to John Sampas for photographs from the Kerouac and Sampas family albums.

To Grove Press, I express my gratitude for permission to include brief excerpts from the copyrighted works of Jack Kerouac, published by Grove Press: Dr. Sax 1959, Satori in Paris 1985, Mexico City Blues 1959, Pic 1971, Lonesome Traveler 1960, and The Subterraneans 1958. Grove Press also kindly granted permission to use excerpts from a copyrighted work of Allen Ginsberg: Journals: Early Fifties, Early Sixties, edited by Gordon Ball 1977.

I thank City Lights Books for granting permission to quote brief excerpts from the copyrighted works of Jack Kerouac: Book of Dreams 2001, Scattered Poems 1971, The Scripture of the Golden Eternity 1994, and Pomes All Sizes 1992.

I also express my thanks to HarperPerennial for permission to use brief excerpts from the copyrighted works of Allen Ginsberg: Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews 19581996, edited by David Carter 2001; Family Business: Selected Letters between a Father and Son, edited by Michael Schumacher 2001; Journals Mid-Fifties 19541958, edited by Gordon Ball 1996; and Collected Poems 19471980, 1988.

I thank Riverhead Books for permission to quote brief excerpts from a copyrighted work of Jack Kerouac: Desolation Angels 1993.

Thanks to Grey Fox Press for permission to use brief excerpts from the copyrighted works of Jack Kerouac: Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road (with Albert Saijo and Lew Welch) 1998; Good Blonde and Others 1993; Heaven and Other Poems, edited by Donald Allen 1977; and Old Angel Midnight 1993.

To I Books, thanks for permission to use brief excerpts from a copyrighted work of Jack Kerouac: Orpheus Emerged 2000, by the Estate of Stella Kerouac.

Special thanks are in order for the staff of Taylor Trade Publishing: former associate publisher Michael Dorr for acquiring this project and contributing his beautiful poem; former marketing director Michael Messina for his assistance in developing marketing strategies early in the publishing process; Hector DeJean and Elizabeth Weiss; Chris Joaquim for her early copyediting of the manuscript and Cheryl Hoffman for further editing; production editor Lynn Weber for her excellence and grace under pressure; and Gisele Henry of the graphic design department for creating such a wonderful cover design.

Thanks also to those many unnamed individuals who gave small but very important details and insights into this complex mans life. I hope, in some small way, that I have contributed to the growing field of Kerouac studies.

Thank you to Carolyn Cassady for her help in the revised edition.

Above all, thanks to my wife Tina for her tolerance, strength of mind, love, and support during the researching and writing of this book, which, to say the least, strengthened the bonds of our marriage by testing every facet of its union.

Jack Kerouac used different names to refer to his friends in his books, varying the aliases from book to book. Heres a list of some of the people and their fictional counterparts.

Alan Ansen
Book of DreamsIrwin Swenson
On the RoadRollo Greb
The SubterraneansAustin Bromberg

William Burroughs
Book of DreamsBull Hubbard
Desolation AngelsBull Hubbard
On the RoadOld Bull Lee
The SubterraneansFrank Carmody
The Town and the CityWill Dennison
Vanity of DuluozWill Hubbard

Bill Cannastra
Visions of CodyFinistra

Lucien Carr
The Town and the CityKenneth Wood

Carolyn Cassady
On the RoadCamille
Visions of CodyEvelyn

Cathy Cassady
On the RoadAmy Moriarty
Visions of CodyEmily Pomeray

Jamie Cassady
On the RoadJoanie Moriarty
Visions of CodyGaby Pomeray

John Allen Cassady
Big SurTimmy John Pomeray
Visions of Cody