As I wake up on my birthday today (I feel lucky to share it with him!), this was the first thing I read. I’m inspired- I needed to hear this. Thank you!
Thanks so much Erik for this beautiful tribute. Kerouac was SO important to me and my friends back in the 70s and 80s. This post prompted me to dig out my own tribute to him, written back in that time. I hope you enjoy it!
Those of us who read the Beat writers yearned to be beat and hip in the 1960s, moved on in different ways to be ourselves. Some of us succeeded without selling out or drinking ourselves to death. We're still on the road.
I recently discovered the photography of Robert Frank. His first and most famous book is The Americans. When I picked it up from the library I was also happy to find that Jack Kerouac had written the introduction. It fit the photographs of early 1950s photographs so perfectly. If you haven’t read it, you might like to seek it out.
“Boys & Girls of America, such a sad time together”. I was in my twenties when I encountered Jack riding the railways and drinking cheap wine. His ghost lives onward. The Beat Generation was a period of fierce greatness. Burroughs and Ginsberg were his karmic partners who stirred the soul of America. Without them, the Universe is spinning wildly no more. Thanks Jack for your courage and vision to examine the uncharted life.
"It was beautiful in Longmont. Under a tremendous old tree was a bed of green lawn-grass belonging to a gas station. I asked the attendant if I could sleep there, and he said sure; so I stretched out a wool shirt, laid my face flat on it, with an elbow out, and with one eye cocked at the snowy Rockies in the hot sun for just a moment. I fell asleep for two delicious hours, the only discomfort being an occasional Colorado ant. And here I am in Colorado! I kept thinking gleefully. Damn! damn! damn! I'm making it!" https://stevegabe.substack.com/p/beautiful-longmont-on-the-road-and Jack made me do things that my life would have been meaningless without, thanks!
This is an incredible birthday toast to one of my favourites. An ex girlfriends sister randomly bought me 'Visions of Cody' when I was 20 (back in 91) and Jack has been a travelling companion of mine ever since. From him I learnt the lesson of soul - that to do anything is not about productivity, not about measuring success but doing it because it is YOU. Being true. It takes practice but this inspiring read from Erik reminds me why it's worth it.
Last week at the Mardi Gras I lived like Kerouac, though substituted not-so-cheap Sazarac for cheap wine. Was going to recover this week but will hit the road today to honor the great mad man.
Jack is that unique spirit that wakens other spirits to live life more fully. If you encountered Kerouac and the Beats as a teenager, then you may have desired to emulate them, but as you get older, you find that you can get a better high being drunk on poetry and damn good books.
My grandpa found AA on skid row. He died early and I don’t know if he has a poets soul. But this poem gives me hope that the hungers in him might have been ravenous for the world and not just a wasteland of sorrow.
As I wake up on my birthday today (I feel lucky to share it with him!), this was the first thing I read. I’m inspired- I needed to hear this. Thank you!
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Kara!
Thanks so much Erik for this beautiful tribute. Kerouac was SO important to me and my friends back in the 70s and 80s. This post prompted me to dig out my own tribute to him, written back in that time. I hope you enjoy it!
https://max1203158.substack.com/p/kerouac?r=222kwf
"All of life is a foreign country",wrote jack.
Jack met life head on, for certain.
Those of us who read the Beat writers yearned to be beat and hip in the 1960s, moved on in different ways to be ourselves. Some of us succeeded without selling out or drinking ourselves to death. We're still on the road.
We yearn to be beat and hip now that we are deep into or past our 60s . . .
My precious Granddaughter's 6th birthday is today! I'll tell her about Jack.
The new cap and nightgown (costume) I got for her "pancake and pajama" party on Sunday is sure to embarrass her, for she is much more mature than me.
Tell her about these legends
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshan_and_Shide
Wow! Thank you @Bob for putting this out there for us
I recently discovered the photography of Robert Frank. His first and most famous book is The Americans. When I picked it up from the library I was also happy to find that Jack Kerouac had written the introduction. It fit the photographs of early 1950s photographs so perfectly. If you haven’t read it, you might like to seek it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL9W3i5Fj50
“Boys & Girls of America, such a sad time together”. I was in my twenties when I encountered Jack riding the railways and drinking cheap wine. His ghost lives onward. The Beat Generation was a period of fierce greatness. Burroughs and Ginsberg were his karmic partners who stirred the soul of America. Without them, the Universe is spinning wildly no more. Thanks Jack for your courage and vision to examine the uncharted life.
"It was beautiful in Longmont. Under a tremendous old tree was a bed of green lawn-grass belonging to a gas station. I asked the attendant if I could sleep there, and he said sure; so I stretched out a wool shirt, laid my face flat on it, with an elbow out, and with one eye cocked at the snowy Rockies in the hot sun for just a moment. I fell asleep for two delicious hours, the only discomfort being an occasional Colorado ant. And here I am in Colorado! I kept thinking gleefully. Damn! damn! damn! I'm making it!" https://stevegabe.substack.com/p/beautiful-longmont-on-the-road-and Jack made me do things that my life would have been meaningless without, thanks!
This is an incredible birthday toast to one of my favourites. An ex girlfriends sister randomly bought me 'Visions of Cody' when I was 20 (back in 91) and Jack has been a travelling companion of mine ever since. From him I learnt the lesson of soul - that to do anything is not about productivity, not about measuring success but doing it because it is YOU. Being true. It takes practice but this inspiring read from Erik reminds me why it's worth it.
I write poems here: https://danoneill.substack.com/
Last week at the Mardi Gras I lived like Kerouac, though substituted not-so-cheap Sazarac for cheap wine. Was going to recover this week but will hit the road today to honor the great mad man.
“finding beauty in the unplanned” such an important thing to do. Thank you.
Skid Row Wine is a favourite of mine too.
Did you hear the Maggie Estep version on the Kerouac Kicks Joy Darkness album?
I did, just recently. So good.
Thanks for dropping a comment about this album; a complete hidden gem I'd never heard before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J0TOC0gko8
Tell me something I don't know.
Jack is that unique spirit that wakens other spirits to live life more fully. If you encountered Kerouac and the Beats as a teenager, then you may have desired to emulate them, but as you get older, you find that you can get a better high being drunk on poetry and damn good books.
My grandpa found AA on skid row. He died early and I don’t know if he has a poets soul. But this poem gives me hope that the hungers in him might have been ravenous for the world and not just a wasteland of sorrow.
" The road is life."
Happy Birthday, Jack!
Thank you for everything you gave us. 'You died for our scenes...'
Your wonderful writing brought me back to Jack and the wild days of my youth on the road physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Thank you!