THE DAILY BEAT: Jack Kerouac, resting from his labors

Monday, October 21, 2013

Jack Kerouac, resting from his labors

Jack Kerouac's grave, Edson Cemetery, Lowell, MA (photo taken October 11, 2013)
(c) 2013 Rick Dale

Coiner of the phrase "Beat Generation," author Jack Kerouac died at age 47 on this date in St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL, in 1969 (44 years ago), of internal hemorrhaging. The coroner’s report said that Jack died from "gastrointestinal hemorrhage, due to bleeding gastric varix [probably meant "varices"] from cirrhosis of liver, due to excessive ethanol intake over many years." Yes, one could say he drank himself to death. Some speculate that Jack's death was complicated by an untreated hernia and a beating he took several weeks earlier in a local tavern, The Cactus Bar. I have speculated about this in the past here on The Daily Beat (click here). Were he still alive, Jack Kerouac would be 91 years old.

There was a poorly attended wake for Jack in St. Petersburg, but a second was held at the Archambault Funeral Home in his hometown of Lowell, MA. Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky attended along with a number of other friends and family members. The funeral took place at St. Jean Baptiste Church, where, according to Kerouac biographer Tom Clark, Father Armand “Spike” Morrisette read from the Holy Bible's Book of Revelation: “They shall rest from their labors for they shall take their works with them.”

Pall-bearers included Joe Chaput, Tony Sampas, Billy Koumantzelis, Harvey Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. Having died the husband of Stella Sampas, Jack was buried in the Sampas family plot in the Edson Cemetery in Lowell. Jack spoke of his burial in Visions of Gerard when he mentioned “that crew of bulls – The particular bleak gray jowled pale eyed sneaky fearful French Canadian quality of man . . . . Lay me down in sweet India or old Tahiti, I don’t want to be buried in their cemetery . . . ” (as cited in Tom Clark in Jack Kerouac: A Biography, 1984, Thunder's Mouth Press, pp. 217-220).

Who will be talking about you and me on the 44th anniversary of our deaths?

P.S.

For your convenience, here are links to all my annual posts about this auspicious date:

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Reviews of The Beat Handbook

Gerald Nicosia, author of the acclaimed Kerouac biography Memory Babe, said The Beat Handbook is "full of Jack's heart."

Jared Randall, author of the excellent book of poetry, Apocryphal Road Code, said this about The Beat Handbook: "Sometimes a book comes along at just the right time. In my wandering pack of experiences, I find they often do. Enter The Beat Handbook by Rick Dale."

Kenneth Morris, Kerouacian extraordinaire, said this:
"I just finished reading Rick Dale's beautiful utterance and call to action of Kerouac mind-set and zen sensibilities. It made me laugh and reflect on my own life and road I have naturally grooved into after absorbing the Kerouac canon. The road less traveled always had my name on it. And that has made all the difference. The Beat Handbook 100 Days of Kerouactions reaffirms the attitudes and ideology that made the Beats and Kerouac the important men of ideas that America (and the world) thirsted for, needed, and swallowed whole. Beautiful, absorbing, Top Ten whipsmart from my articulate, tender-hearted friend and fellow traveler. Highly recommended."