The 6th item in my Kerouac bookshelf curation project is a DVD of a public talk that Kerouac scholar Gerald Nicosia gave at the University of Maine at Farmington on April 24, 2013. This is my copy, which -- unfortunately -- skips. There is also a copy at UMF's Mantor Library, and I think I sent one to Gerry as well. So, it is a limited edition.
Some background. I brought Gerry to campus to teach my Kerouac class (twice) that week and to give a public talk. Wednesday evening, he spoke on "Why Jack is Back," focusing on why Jack and the Beats were back to change our lives once again (the On The Road movie had been in the news). Before a crowd of about 30 people (students, faculty, and community members), Gerry expounded on several things the Beats stood for: human interaction (community, presence, companionship); the evil of materialism; and, the dignity, value, and divine spirit in every human being. He gave plenty of time for questions at the end and there were a number of very thoughtful ones. Gerry demonstrated his profound knowledge of not only Jack Kerouac and the Beats but also about literature in general as well as the history of the United States.
For more on Gerry's visit, click here: http://thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-week-with-beat-legend.html
Below is a picture of the top shelf of my Kerouac bookshelf showing the placement of my Nicosia DVD (it's under yesterday's Neal Cassady DVD that sits "atop" the pile -- couldn't resist the Kerouac reference -- of DVDs under the bobblehead) on the day I started curating my collection.
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| The top of my Kerouac bookshelf |
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