Posted on 05/28/2005 10:22:56 PM PDT by Libertarian Jim
This post is a bit out of left field, but it's a subject that has been on my mind. I was watching a documentary last night called "The Source." It's about the Beatniks, focusing on the big three: Kerouac, Ginsburg and Burroughs. What really caught my attention was the parts about Kerouac. There were clips of what I think is the last interview of Jack Kerouac by, of all people, William F. Buckley on his "Firing Line" show. It was just a few months before Kerouac died and he was a mess: a much older man, slurring his words, seeming lost. I started to look for more information about this interview online and everywhere I looked, I found small passages saying that Kerouac was politically conservative and a good friend of Buckley. This I never knew. However, it got disturbing as I also read blurbs that Kerouac had anti-Semitic tendencies and even hang out with the KKK in his later years. There's even a story of him burning a cross near a black neighborhood. I delved deeper and deeper, but information on these subjects is severely lacking.
Certainly On The Road is a great novel and Kerouac left an indelible mark on American Literature, but you only hear about him as far as the beatniks go and the evolution into the 60s. I'm very interested to hear about this other side of Kerouac that seems to be swept under the rug. Is it indeed true that he hated the hippie movement? Was he a racist? There have been biographies written about him, of course, but I don't want to spend vast amounts of reading time with either a love-letter bio or a hit-piece. Is there anyone out there that can enlighten me on this man?
According to this, he was conservative, against the hippies, and for the Vietnam War:
http://www.litkicks.com/BeatPages/page.jsp?what=JackKerouac
Don't know about the other stuff.
Interesting trivia from International Herald Tribune SATURDAY, MAY 7, 2005:
"A bobble-head doll of the Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, created as a promotion by the minor-league baseball team Lowell Spinners in Massachusetts, joined the collection at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Kerouac is believed to be the first literary figure so honored. The doll honoring the Lowell native was handed out as a promotion in August 2003. The demand forced the team to create more bobble-heads, which helped raise funds for Jack Kerouac Scholarships."
I live near Lowell, and never heard any complaints about Kerouac being a racist. I'm sure someone would have objected to the scholarships if that were the case.
Thanks for this link. Unfortunately, this is about as far as any of the info about Kerouac goes on the subject. Like I said, the hippies and post-hippies would probably just as soon sweep it under the rug.
I seem to recall that Kerouac was rather to the right of some of his contemporaries. Interesting to know the WFB was the last to interview him.
I'll run this past a friend whom I consider an expert in all things beatnick and see what they say.
Maybe it's a case of, in comparison with Ginsberg and Burroughs, Kerouc is a conservative. He actually WAS (a conservative), just saying, given the extreme way-past left lifestyles and such by the other two, Kerouc was a real square guy.
Square as in, rugged, organized, no weird edges.
Thanks, that's extremely interesting. I'll have to check that out.
bump
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