Beat Generation

This bio has been moved over to Jack.

We are like roses that have never bothered to
bloom when we should have bloomed and (more…)

Joan was William Burroughs’ common-law wife. William and other beats were greatly influenced by her. Allen Ginsberg, in “Dream Record,” said:

I went back to Mexico City and saw Joan Burroughs leaning forward in a garden chair, arms on her knees… (more…)

“Watch what everyone is doing, and don’t do it.”

Born: February 5, 1914, St. Louis, Missouri
Died: August 2, 1997, Lawrence, Kansas (more…)

In those years at Columbia, we really did have something going. It was a rebellious group, I suppose, of which there are many on campuses, but it was one that really was dedicated to a ‘New Vision.’ It’s practically impossible to define. Maybe it a term we just told ourselves.

-from The Portable Beat Reader (more…)

Carolyn Cassady was Neal Cassady’s second wife. She was a companion to Neal for over 14 years and was at the core of the famous beat trio: Cassady, Ginsberg, and Kerouac. (more…)

“I am sitting in a bar on Market St. I’m drunk, well, not quite, but I soon will be. I am here for 2 reasons; I must wait 5 hours for the bus to Denver & lastly but, most importantly, I’m here (drinking) because, of course, because of a woman & what a woman! To be chronological about it…” (more…)

Ira Cohen is an “electronic multimedia shaman” who has travelled with those in the Beat Generation, but who remains a less talked-about, universal visionary and solider–across time, space, dimension, and light. His sashays into other cultures have brought us great and sometimes shocking photographs from the “other side”. His works with mylar photography brought the word home. He has photographed Jimi Hendrix, Herbert Huncke, and myriad of others in strange twisting colors. (more…)

…Like the jester who blew out candles
tip-toeing in toe-bell feet
that his master dream victories (more…)

Elise, inspired by Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, went on to become a poet herself, although she never was published. She became friends with beats Joyce Johnson and Leo Skir, and even dated Allen Ginsberg. Her life was interrupted by depression and she was admitted to Bellevue, whereupon her release, she jumped to her death at her parents’ home. Her poetry was eventually sent by Leo Skir to Evergreen Review, and by his own opinion: “she had a rare gift for friendship.” She was also included in Minor Characters, a book by Joyce Johnson that focused on beat women.

just as I caught the train I think I saw you
shuffling to the horizon to stamp it flat
(from “The Beach”) (more…)

I put my cap in the cage
and went out with the bird on my head… (more…)

Go fuck yourself with the atom bomb…
-America (more…)

Joan and Jack Kerouac met, were married two weeks later, and their marriage lasted eight months. In the meantime, she became pregnant by Jack. Nine months later, and after their divorce, she gave birth to Jan Kerouac. (more…)

This is the beat generation… (more…)