Happy Thanksgiving

It's been over two years since publishing The Beat Handbook and starting this blog, and I'm thankful today for all the amazing experiences I've had along the way, from trading books with David Amram to shipping books as far away as India to hanging out in Lowell to meeting folks like the Bootch to having City Lights send me books to review to learning more about Jack Kerouac than I ever imagined possible.

Here's some Kerouac Thanksgiving Day trivia for you:

"Strong and athletic, Kerouac was a talented football player. In the Thanksgiving Day football game during his senior year, he scored the game-winning touchdown. The ball was tipped, he stretched out and grabbed it just inches from the ground, and he bulled his way into the end zone. The fans went crazy, and several college scouts in the stadium couldn't help but be impressed. Kerouac accepted an athletic scholarship to Columbia University, where he met William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg." (Source: American Society of Authors and Writers)

If it weren't for football and Thanksgiving, would there even have been a Jack Kerouac as we know him?

Now, the Kerouaction for today is to go eat too much turkey.


P.S. For a previous and similar post, click here.

Jack Kerouac, Thanksgiving Day, football

During his senior year at Lowell HS, according to Kerouac legend, Jack scored the winning touchdown against rival Lawrence in the "Turkey Day Classic" on Thanksgiving Day 1938. In researching this little tidbit of trivia, I found this website, which is a concise compilation of details about Jack: Jack Kerouac: Safe in Heaven Drunk.

That's all for today. We are giving thanks in our household for family, friends, love, health, food, warmth, shelter, and the freedom to assemble and give thanks unfettered by government interference in the first place. Not everyone on this planet can say that. My heart goes out to them.

I hope your holiday is everything you wish.