We celebrate him today via David Hoffman‘s entertaining and informative documentary video, centered around an interview with Jami Cassady (Melany Jane Cassady Ratto), Neal’s daughter, (one of the three children, (two daughters, one son) of Neal and Carolyn Cassady).
Hoffman elsewhere declares: “As a person who grew up in the 1950s, I had heard his name and I did read Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, but I really didn’t know much about him until I sat down with Jami and conducted this interview. I made and make no judgment about the life he lived though it is a life I could not have lived and would not have wanted to. He influenced a generation of writers and musicians and adventurers and hippies and outcasts and may have been the major influence on The Beat Generation…I want to thank Jami and her husband Randy for allowing me to tell just a part of their story and to see just a piece of their incredible collection of Neal’s life and work”.
and Jami writes: “Thank you for watching.. I met David downtown Santa Cruz last year (2000) when Randy and I were vending books, shirts, posters, etc related to my parents…David did a wonderful job and I’m so glad he pursued me to make this video.”
For more Jami Cassady (and Randy Ratto) on Neal Cassady – see here – and here
Jami Cassady’s website (part of the Neal Cassady Estate website can be found here
Cathy Cassady Sylvia, her sister,’s website can be found here
and brother John Allen Cassady (the “John” was for Kerouac, and the “Allen” for Allen) can be found here
Neal Cassady Centennial 2026 – look out for that.