updated news of the fabled Kerouac-Cassady letter – see here
Tomorrow, (Saturday March 11) – Jack Kerouac’s 95th Birthday Celebrations in Lowell, Mass,, kick off at 12 o’clock, (12 Noon) in the Pollard Library with a Pollard Library Tour, led by Bill Walsh, followed by “The Unknown Kerouac”, a presentation and discussion by Todd Tietchen and Jean Christophe Cloutier of the most recently published Kerouac volume. Then, in the evening, at Zorba’s Music Hall – “Happy Birthday Jack!” -“A celebration of Kerouac’s Birthday with The Neverly Brothers (Dave Norton and Peter Lavender) and Alligator Wine. Between the sets there will be readings of favorite Kerouac passages and the reading of the Governor’s Proclamation of the official Jack Kerouac Day in the state of Massachusetts.
see the Lowell Sun report (with a video report by Sean Thibodeau of the Pollard Memorial Library) – here
also, next day (Sunday March 12), the actual birthday, in North Beach, San Francisco, celebrations at The Beat Museum (featuring a performance by “raga/reggae/rock band”, the Dharma Bums, and special guests)
Kerouac reviewed by Jules Smith in the Times Literary Supplement – “Unspeakable Visions” – see here
Brian Hassett recollecting the 1982 Jack Kerouac conference at Naropa (and “a funny Al Aronowitz– Allen Ginsberg story”) – can be accessed here
Jacqueline Gens remembers Allen and Gelek Rinpoche – “Gelek Rimpoche and Allen had a lot of fun. Often when Gelek Rimpoche stayed with Allen in his rather humble six floor walk-up apartment on East 12th Street, I would see them together while delivering Allen’s mail. Gelek Rimpoche was especially fond of telling many ribald tales about the sexual practices of monks in Tibet which Allen found amusing. They also shared a keen love of the daily news–Allen, the NYTimes and Gelek Rimpoche, CNN.”
“I remember during the first Iraq war we were all watching George Bush Senior on CNN and Gelek Rimpoche saying that he (George Bush senior) had no idea of the karmic implications of his policies for America.”
More of Jacqueline’s touching memoir – here