Kerouac 41 Years Later

It was 41 years ago today that Kerouac passed away at the age of 47 in St. Petersburg, Florida. As Jerry Cimino wrote in today's Kerouac.com mailing "When he died he had $91 in the bank and his entire estate was worth less than $10,000. By the mid seventies just about all of his books (with the notable exception of On The Road) were out of print. Today, there are over thirty books in print, many published posthumously."


[Jack Kerouac wandering along East 7th Street after visiting Burroughs at our pad, passing statue of Congressman Samuel “Sunset” Cox, “The Letter Carrier’s Friend” in Tompkins Square toward corner of Avenue A, Lower East Side. He’s making a Dostoevsky mad-face or Russian basso be-bop Om, then involved with The Subterraneans, just walking around the neighborhood, pencils and notebook in the wool shirt-pocket, Manhattan Fall 1953. (Ginsberg caption) photo c. Allen Ginsberg Estate]

[Jack Kerouac Avenue A across from Tompkins Park 1953 New York, his handsome face looking into barroom door--this is best profile of his intelligence as I saw it sacred, time of Subterraneans writing. (Ginsberg caption). photo c. Allen Ginsberg Estate]