Maison d'Ętre Beatnik Coffeehouse

Jack  Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac [1922-1969]

         Jack Kerouac was born 'Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac' on 12 March 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, of French-Canadian parents. He learned first to speak a French dialect, not learning English until the age of 6. The death of his beloved older brother Gerard in July 1926 affected Jack's whole life. He married his first wife, Edie, in August 1944; the marriage was annulled in 1946. He married second wife Joan Haverty in 1951, producing one child, Janet Michelle, and a quick divorce. Childhood sweetheart Stella Sampas waited 20 years in Lowell for Jack to return to her; they married in November 1966.

         Jack won a football scholarship to Columbia University, where he first met Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs. He dropped out after a year and joined the Merchant Marine, then the U.S. Navy during WWII, receiving an honorable discharge, for 'indifference'.

         Jack often credited Jack London's "The Road" [1907] with inspiring him to become a writer. Jack made a deal to teach Neal how to write, in exchange for Neal teaching Jack how to drive; various trips across America followed, though Jack usually let others drive the car. Jack met John Clellon Holmes in 1948 and they began discussions that defined the Beat aesthetic. Jack began to write "On The Road".
         In 1949, Jack and Neal met in North Carolina and drove a 1949 Hudson to New York, then to New Orleans to visit Burroughs, and finally to California. Ginsberg helped Jack get his first novel published, "The Town & the City" (1950). Jack and Neal traveled to Mexico. The 'paper scroll' version of "On The Road" was written during April 1951 – legend holds that it was done in three weeks time; in November of 1951, Jack discovered the 'spontaneous bop prose' method. Jack stayed with Neal & Carolyn Cassady in San Francisco for much of 1952, then visited Burroughs for a while in Mexico City.

         The official beginning of the Beat movement was the night of October 7, 1955, at a poetry reading in San Francisco featuring Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Lamantia, Kenneth Rexroth, Philip Whalen, and Allen Ginsberg. Jack was present, and heard Ginsberg's epic "Howl" recited publicly for the first time. The publication of bestseller "On The Road" in October 1957 propelled Jack into the public spotlight, where he was not comfortable: he was dubbed 'King of the Beats'. Unfortunately his withdrawal took the form of heavy drinking. On a visit with Burroughs in Tangier, Jack named and then typed the manuscript for Burroughs's "Naked Lunch". Jack spent the summer of 1960 at Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in Big Sur, but heavy drinking caused nightmares and paranoia and delirium tremens [see "Big Sur"].

         Jack met his daughter Jan for the first time in February 1962. In New York, he was reunited for a time with Neal, together meeting Ken Kesey & the Merry Pranksters at a party. In worsening shape, Jack moved back and forth between Florida and Long Island with his mother. He visited France [see "Satori In Paris"] and London. Upon his return from Europe, he moved in with his mother again, in Massachusetts. She suffered a stroke in 1966, and Jack married high school sweetheart Stella Sampras, and the three moved together back to Lowell.
         Jack continued writing, but the drinking grew worse. In 1968, Jack and his mother and his wife moved back to St. Petersburg, where Jack died 21 October 1969 of 'an abdominal hemorrhage due to alcoholism'; he was buried in Lowell, with 'He Honored Life' on his tombstone. His mother Gabrielle died in 1973; his daughter Jan died in June 1996.

         The major novels of Jack Kerouac include "On The Road", "The Dharma Bums", "The Subterraneans", and "Big Sur". Several new works were published posthumously, some as late as 1997 & 2000. Jack's nephew & legatee Jim Sampras discovered and had published several new works, including the "Kicks Joy Darkness" tribute album and the "Dr. Sax" radio play.
         Jack Kerouac's importance in XXth Century literature is undisputed.