I was looking to do a "Jack Kerouac on this date" entry today but didn't find one for a year I haven't already posted about. There is a 1957 letter to Lucien Carr on December 14, but we already did 1957 and I'm trying not to repeat years. So, I looked through some chronologies that listed things that happened in December without a date.
One that struck my eye is that Jack lost his virginity to a red-haired prostitute in midtown Manhattan in December of 1939.* We know October was Jack's favorite month, but December must have held a special place in his memories as this is a rite of passage I assume most people never forget.
Although as I ponder my own experience, I have forgotten the month. Damn....
No matter, this is all trivial information at best and probably #NSFW to boot.
Cheer up -- we have additional favorite book surveys in and will report on that tomorrow.
*This is according to the Cosmic Baseball Association's Jack Kerouac Chronology and being more or less confirmed by Gerald Nicosia's Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac (p. 67). I say "more or less" because Gerry's retelling of the story is a bit ambiguous on year (it's either 1939 or 1940 -- I doubt 1940, though, because Jack broke his leg playing football that October and probably wasn't being too engaged with prostitutes).
Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to write a little comment to support you.