THE DAILY BEAT: July 2020

Friday, July 31, 2020

Another Kerouac two-fer date

Gore Vidal (left) and Elise Cowen

Writer and bon vivant Gore Vidal died on this date -- July 31-- in 2012, and Beat poet Elise Cowen was born on this same date in 1933. Vidal appeared in Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans as Arial Lavalina and in Old Angel Midnight as Gore Bedavalled. Cowen appeared as Barbara Lipp in Desolation Angels.

I said a little bit more about each on their birth and death dates HERE and HERE. Gore was born 8 years before Cowen but outlived her by many years (86 v. 28).

Given my personal history with depression, I should note here that Cowen ended her own life (not dissimilarly to Natalie Jackson) by throwing herself out of her parents' 7th floor window.

If you are thinking about suicide or just need someone to talk to about emotional distress in your life, you can text Crisis Text Line at 741741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

RIP, Mr.* Vidal, and Happy Birthday, Ms.* Cowen.

*These are guesses at preferred pronouns. If I'm wrong, let me know.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Happy birthday to Robert LaVigne

On this date, July 15, artist and Jack Kerouac friend Robert LaVigne was born in Idaho in 1928. He was Guy Levesque in Kerouac's Desolation Angels.

We said a bunch about LaVigne back on February 20 (click HERE), so there is no need to repeat ourselves today. Don't believe what Ginsberg said in the above picture about LaVigne being Robert Browning in Big Sur. See my February 20 post for an explanation.

Happy birthday, Mr. LaVigne.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

I provide a Jack Kerouac quote and you figure out the book (6th in a series)

This is the 6th in a series of posts where I provide a quote from one of Jack Kerouac's books and you figure out which one. Post your answer as a comment. Here's the passage:

The original hobo dream was best expressed in a lovely little poem mentioned by Dwight Goddard in his Buddhist Bible:Oh for this one rare occurrenceGladly would I give ten thousand pieces of gold!A hat is on my head, a bundle on my back,And my staff, the refreshing breeze and the full moon.

Good luck! Remember our policy on comments (over there on the right).

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."