Jack Kerouac Passes Away – October 21, 1969

My copy of On the Road

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is one of my favorite books. I first read it back in the 1980s, when my passion was driving old highways and taking black and white photographs of the old motels, drive-in movie theaters and diners left over from the 1950s that I found along the way. 

One aspect of the book is of interest to Northern Ohioans. Early in the story, Sal Paradise, the main character, plans to hitchhike across the country and initially decides to do it all the way on U. S. Route 6. However, he's forced to abandon this notion when he realizes that although Route 6 did indeed stretch across the United States, not too many travelers (if any) used it for cross-country travel. 

Anyway, when I saw the article (below) about Jack Kerouac’s death on the front page of the October 21, 1969 Journal, I just had to post it here. It’s interesting to see the photo of him in his late forties, and the headline which refers to him as a ‘hippie writer.’  

The article states that his books “ushered in the current generation of hippies.” I’m not sure that I really agree with that, as his books were of a more personal nature, rather than promoting some sort of common anti-war philosophy of peace and love.

If you read most of his books and are aware of the history behind them, you eventually realize that you are reading Kerouac’s life story, broken down into many different volumes corresponding to different times and events of his life. Some of his books I really enjoy (The Dharma Bums, Big Sur) and at least one I really hated (Visions of Cody). I’m not a big fan of the ones that are written in a rambling, stream of consciouness style; I much prefer the ones that are more straightforward (such as Lonesome Traveler and Vanity of Duluoz).

Anyway, it was more than fifty years ago that Kerouac passed away, and I doubt if any other writer will ever capture the public’s imagination like him.