Tuesday, September 9, 2014

September Beats: Jack Kerouac


He is born in 1922 to French Canadian parents in Massachusetts. For the next seven years, he speaks only French. His Roman Catholic faith shapes him; it does so for the rest of his life.

Even as a child, he writes: a newspaper, a diary, radio plays, even a novel.

He plays football in high school, and plays well. He’s offered a football scholarship to Columbia University in New York City. New York inspires.

World War II begins. He becomes deeply concerned by the shift in morals happening around him. He leaves college, joins the merchant marine. He writes a novel called The Sea is My Brother that won’t be published for 70 years, long after his death.


To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

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