"Jan Kerouac Remembered"

On Tuesday, Nov. 10 the San Francisco Public Library sponsored the “Jan Kerouac Remembered” lecture at the North Beach branch. Jan Kerouac was daughter and only child of the famous Beat-era poet, Jack Kerouac. Gerald Nicosia, the event’s host, recently had his biography of Kerouac entitled Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory published.
During the lecture, different speakers read from the book which prominent people in Kerouac’s life including Brenda Knight, John Cassady and Carl Macki. Kerouac was a post-Beat author that wrote and published two books during her lifetime and one posthumously.

The small group of approximately 25 present was mostly of senior citizens or middle-aged folks. The group gathered in the risen section of library near the Chinese literature. Bright blue chairs were lined up in two columns and there was a podium at the front for contributors to read and speak.

During the event, Kerouac’s strained and almost non-existent relationship with her father was discussed. Her mother’s depression was also mentioned. Kerouac’s battle against kidney disease and her struggle to finish the last book she was working on Parrot Fever was described by colleague and friend, Brenda Knight.

Nicosia made the comment about how Jack Kerouac was compared to St. Paul and Allen Ginsberg was compared to St. Peter during their youth. He went on to say that Jan Kerouac was also saint-like in that she was non-materialistic.

“She knew her life would be short,” Nicosia said. “She didn’t complain. She wanted to do something meaningful.”

Kerouac died in 1966 due to kidney disease, but was survived by half-siblings Katharine, Sharon and David Bowers.

Courtesy of geraldnicosia.com