by Jack Kerouac
Charles “Charley” Connors, Lowell-born editor and friend to Leo Kerouac. Connors was fictionalized as Jimmy Bannon in The Town and the City.
Bruce Crabtree (1918–1933), mathematician who was friendly with the New York Beats during the 1940s and 1950s.
Henri Cru (1921–1992) befriended Kerouac at Horace Mann in New York, and they remained lifelong friends. Cru appears in On the Road as Remi Boncoeur.
John L. “Jack” Fitzgerald (1922–1998), jazz writer and actor whom Kerouac befriended in New York in 1943.
Mike Fournier, Jr. (1921–1991), Lowell-born friend of Kerouac who served as the basis for Joe Martin in The Town and the City.
Bill Fox, business partner of Jerry Newman at Greenwich Music Shop and Esoteric Records.
Bea Franco (1920–2013), born in Selma, California. Franco was romantically involved with Kerouac in autumn 1947. She appears in On the Road as Terry.
Allen Ginsberg (1929–1997), American poet and a leading figure of the Beat Generation.
Louis Ginsberg (1896–1976), father of Allen Ginsberg; also a poet.
Robert Giroux (1914–2008), renowned American book editor and publisher; Giroux edited Kerouac’s The Town and the City for Harcourt Brace & Company.
Alan Harrington (1918–1997), Massachusetts-born novelist who introduced Kerouac to John Clellon Holmes in 1948.
Joan Haverty (1930–1990), Kerouac’s second wife, who appears in On the Road as Laura. Haverty was the mother of Kerouac’s only child, Janet “Jan” Kerouac (1952–1996).
Luanne Henderson (1930–2009), Neal Cassady’s first wife who appears in On the Road as Marylou.
Al Hinkle (b. 1926), Denver friend of Kerouac who appears in On the Road as Ed Dunkel.
John Hohnsbeen (1926–1970) befriended Kerouac at Columbia University and later became Peggy Guggenheim’s personal assistant.
John Clellon Holmes (1926–1988), American novelist and poet. One of Kerouac’s most trusted friends and interlocutors.
Marian Holmes (b. 1923), first wife of John Clellon Holmes. They divorced in 1952.
Pete Houde (1918–1993), Lowell-born childhood friend of Kerouac. Houde appears in several of Kerouac’s works as Gene Plouffe.
Herbert Huncke (1915–1996), New York street hustler and poet who served as a mentor to Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, and others.
Frank Jeffries (1923–1996), Denver-born friend of Kerouac. He accompanied Kerouac and Cassady to Mexico in 1950 and subsequently appeared in On the Road as Stan Shephard.
David Kammerer (1911–1944), friend of William Burroughs who became acquainted with Kerouac in 1944. Kammerer was stabbed to death by Lucien Carr in August 1944. Carr, who was sent to a reformatory for manslaughter, claimed he was resisting Kammerer’s sexual advances.
John Kelly (1913–1966), author of All Soul’s Night (1947). Kerouac met Kelly through Robert Giroux in 1949.
Beatrice “Bea” Kerouac, cousin of Jack Kerouac, daughter of Joseph and Leontine Kerouac. Beatrice often appears in Kerouac’s works as Blanche Duluoz, including the edited typescript of Memory Babe.
Caroline Kerouac (1872–1944), Kerouac’s aunt, Leo Kerouac’s sister, born in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec. She became Sister Antoine de Jésus after joining the Daughters of Charity in 1893.
Caroline “Nin” Kerouac (1918–1964), Jack Kerouac’s sister.
Gabrielle-Ange Kerouac, née Lévesque (1895–1973), Kerouac’s mother, born in Saint-Pacôme, Québec, and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Gerard Kerouac (1916–1926), Kerouac’s older brother who died of rheumatic fever at the age of nine.
Jean-Baptiste Kerouac (1849–1906), Kerouac’s grandfather.
Joseph Kerouac (1881–1944), Kerouac’s uncle on his father’s side; he appears in a number of Kerouac’s works (including the edited typescript of Memory Babe) as Uncle Mike.
Leo Kerouac (1889–1946), Jack Kerouac’s father, born Joseph Alcide Leon Kerouac in Saint-Hubert, Québec, and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Leontine Kerouac, née Roleau (1882–1975), Kerouac’s aunt through her marriage to Joseph Kerouac. She sometimes appears in Kerouac’s work as Aunt Clementine.
John Kingsland (1927–1997), met Kerouac while Kerouac was dating Edie Parker; Kingsland was dating Joan Vollmer, Parker’s roommate at the time.
Jay Landesman (1919–2011), founding editor of Neurotica, a literary journal featuring Beat writing.
Liz Lehrman (1928–2014), New York–born painter who dated Lucien Carr in the early 1950s.
Elbert Lenrow (1903–1993), professor of American literature at The New School.
Tom Livornese (1924–1990), a jazz pianist who studied at Columbia University; Kerouac befriended him in 1946.
Roger Lyndon (1917–1988), Harvard-trained Princeton mathematician.
Varnum Lewis Marker (1926–1993), New York acquaintance of Kerouac.
Marie Louise Michaud, née Kerouac (1878–1962), Kerouac’s aunt, Leo Kerouac’s sister, born in Saint-Hubert, Québec.
Adele Morales (1925–2015), New York–born painter who dated Kerouac briefly. Morales later married novelist and journalist Norman Mailer.
Dorothy “Dusty” Moreland, Wyoming-born painter who was romantically involved with both Allen Ginsberg and Kerouac.
Charles Morrisette (1909–1987), first husband of Jack’s sister Caroline; Morrisette appears in Visions of Cody and Tics as Charley Bissonette.
Jerry Newman (1918–1970), recording engineer and founder of Esoteric and Counterpoint records. Newman befriended Kerouac through their mutual friend, Seymour Wyse.
Edith “Edie” Parker (1922–1993), Kerouac’s first wife.
Helen Parker (1920–1993), born in South Dakota, was romantically involved with Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg; she was also briefly engaged to John Dos Passos.
Robert Rondeau (1921–2007), childhood friend of Kerouac from Lowell; he appears in several of the author’s works as Billy Artaud.
Roland “Salvey” Salvas (1922–2004), childhood friend of Kerouac. Salvas appears in a number of Kerouac’s Lowell-based works.
Sebastian “Sammy” Sampas (1922–1944), close friend and early literary confidant of Kerouac from Lowell.
Stella Sampas (1918–1990), sister of Sebastian Sampas. Kerouac maintained a correspondence with Stella over many years, and she became his third and final wife in 1966.
Norman Schnall (b. 1924), Bronx-born friend of the New York Beat writers.
Carl Solomon (1928–1993), Bronx-born poet and editor. Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” is dedicated to Solomon.
Allan Temko (1924–1990), New York–born architecture critic whom Kerouac befriended during the 1940s.
Bill Tomson (1929–1982), Denver-born friend of Neal and Carolyn Cassady.
Barry Ulanov (1918–2000), New York–born jazz critic.
Emma Vaillancourt, née Kerouac (1871–1967), Kerouac’s aunt, Leo Kerouac’s sister, born in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec.
Mark Van Doren (1894–1972), poet, critic, and university professor. Kerouac studied under Van Doren at Columbia.
Lucia “Vern” Vernarelli (1920–1995), Brooklyn-born painter affiliated with the New York Beats.
Francesca “Cessa” Von Hartz (b. 1929), Barnard graduate who married Lucien Carr in 1952. They met while working for United Press International.
Ed White (b. 1925), Denver-born architect who befriended Kerouac during their time at Columbia University.
A. A. Wyn (1898–1967), publisher and editor who founded Ace Books.
Seymour Wyse (b. 1923), born in London, befriended Kerouac during their time as students at Horace Mann in New York.
Celine Young (1924–1972), Barnard student with whom both Kerouac and Carr were romantically involved during the mid-1940s.
Notes
In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line in the hardcover edition of this volume (the line count includes headings). No note is made for material included in standard desk-reference books. Quo
tations from Shakespeare are keyed to The Riverside Shakespeare (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974), edited by G. Blakemore Evans. For references to other studies and further biographical background than is contained in the Chronology, see Ann Charters, Kerouac (San Francisco: Straight Arrow Books, 1973); Ann Charters, ed., Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1940–1956 (New York: Viking Penguin, 1995); Ann Charters, ed., Jack Kerouac: Selected Letters, 1957–1969 (New York: Viking Penguin, 1995); Ann Charters, A Bibliography of Works by Jack Kerouac, 1939–1975 (New York: The Phoenix Bookshop, revised edition, 1975); Barry Gifford and Lawrence Lee, Jack’s Book: An Oral Biography of Jack Kerouac (New York: St. Martin’s, 1978); Tim Hunt, The Textuality of Soulwork: Jack Kerouac’s Quest for Spontaneous Prose (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2014); Joyce Johnson, The Voice Is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac (New York: Viking, 2012); Paul Maher Jr., Kerouac: His Life and Work (Lanham, Md.: Taylor Trade, 2004); Dennis McNally, Desolate Angel (New York: Random House, 1979); Hassan Melehy, Kerouac: Language, Poetics, and Territory (New York: Bloomsbury, 2016); Gerald Nicosia, Memory Babe: A Critical Biography of Jack Kerouac (New York: Grove Press, 1983).
ON FRANK SINATRA
3.1 Sorelian] Georges Sorel (1847–1922), French philosopher and radical political theorist, best known for Reflections on Violence (1908).
AMERICA IN WORLD HISTORY
8.15–16 Céline of France . . . Ford’s assembly lines] In Céline’s Journey to the End of Night (1932), the protagonist Bardamu travels to the United States where he works for the Ford Motor Company.
10.5 Sessions, Harris] American composers Roger Sessions (1896–1985) and Roy Harris (1898–1979).
A COUPLE OF FACTS CONCERNING LAWS OF DECADENCE
13.1 Henry Morgan] Radio and television comedian (1915–1994).
14.31 Orgone “Institute”] Under the aegis of his Orgone Institute, the Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), author of The Function of the Orgasm (1927) and Character Analysis (1933), propagated his theory of orgone, a supposed form of cosmic energy that could be accumulated for healing purposes in boxes of Reich’s design. Reich was subsequently convicted of fraud and died while serving a two-year sentence.
ON CONTEMPORARY JAZZ “BEBOP”
19.10 Ellington idea . . . Lester Young idea] Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899–1974), composer and bandleader; Lester Young (1909–1959), jazz instrumentalist on saxophone and clarinet.
19.26–27 Basie, Lunceford, Goodman, Shaw, Benny Carter, Don Redman] Bandleaders Count Basie (1904–1984), Jimmy Lunceford (1902–1947), Benny Goodman (1909–1986), Artie Shaw (1910–2004), Benny Carter (1907–2003), and Don Redman (1900–1964).
20.5 Dizzy Gillespie] John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (1917–1993), jazz trumpeter and bandleader, one of the architects of bebop.
20.18 Shelly Manne . . . Stan Kenton] Manne (1920–1984), jazz drummer associated with Woody Herman and Stan Kenton before becoming a central figure on the West Coast jazz scene in the 1950s; Kenton (1911–1979), bandleader and composer.
20.31 Pete Rugolo] Composer and arranger (1915–2011) long associated with Stan Kenton.
20.32 Boyd Raeburn] Jazz musician and bandleader (1913–1966) noted for the novelty and complexity of his band’s arrangements.
20.33 Ray Brown] Jazz bassist and cellist (1926–2002).
20.33 Mercer Ellington] Jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader (1919–1996), son of Duke Ellington and eventual leader of the Duke Ellington Orchestra following his father’s death.
20.34 1946 Herman band] Woody Herman (1913–1987) disbanded his band, subsequently known as the First Herd, in 1946; in 1947 he organized a new band known as the Second Herd.
PRIVATE PHILOLOGIES RIDDLES AND A TEN-DAY WRITING LOG
25.11 “On the Road”] Kerouac is here referring to “Shades of the Prisoner House,” an early attempt at On the Road featuring Red Moultrie as protagonist.
25.12 T & C.] The Town and the City (1950), Kerouac’s first published novel.
27.3 “Ling’s Woe”] “The Fable of Ling’s Woe,” 1949 typescript by Kerouac, held in the Berg Collection.
27.13–14 Kafka’s penal machine] See Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” (1914).
27.15 shmoo] Cartoon creature created by Al Capp in the comic strip Li’l Abner in 1948, in a sequence published in book form as The Life and Times of the Shmoo. Shmoos were benevolent creatures who offered themselves as food for humans but were exterminated because of their deleterious effect on the economy.
27.31 Charley Ventura] Jazz saxophonist and bandleader (1916–1992).
29.12 Joe Christmas] Doomed protagonist of William Faulkner’s Light in August (1932).
31.1–2 Francis Martin] Character in The Town and the City, depicted as having a morose sense of humor.
31.27 La Kermesse de Rubens] Painting (1635–38) by Peter Paul Rubens, also known as The Village Fête or Village Wedding.
32.9 “rain-&-rivers”] Kerouac composed a road journal titled Rain and Rivers beginning in January 1949. Rain and Rivers provided source material for On the Road (1957), and some of its dates overlap with the dates covered in Private Philologies Riddles And a Ten-Day Writing Log. Rain and Rivers is included in David Brinkley, ed., Windblown World (Viking, 2004).
32.15 “Junkey” of T & C] Fictional name for Herbert Huncke (1914–1986) in The Town and the City.
32.33 Peter Martin] Protagonist of The Town and the City.
36.22 Spenser] The poet Edmund Spenser (1551–1599).
37.12–17 Bran the Blessed . . . Rhiannon] Mythological figures in the medieval Welsh compilation the Mabinogion.
38.6–7 “You can do anything to my flesh . . . but leave my bones alone.”] See Allen Ginsberg’s “Complaint of the Skeleton to Time,” written in 1949.
38.22–23 Hopkins . . . horn] The poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) wrote in his diary in 1863: “The various lights under which the horn may be looked at have given rise to a vast number of words in language. It may be regarded as a projection, a climax, a badge of strength, power or vigor, a tapering body, a spiral, a wavy object, a bow, a vessel to hold withal or drink from, a smooth hard material not brittle, stony, metallic or wooden, something sprouting up, something to thrust or push with, a sign of honour or pride, an instrument of music, etc.”
38.25 “And in a Dongeon deep him threw without remorse.”] See Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, book I, canto 7, stanza 15, line 9.
38.27–28 “O that I were there . . . their Maybush beare!”] See Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender (1579), “Maye.”
40.1–4 “Before Nelson’s pillar . . . Green and Ringsend.”] James Joyce, Ulysses (1922), chapter 7.
40.14 Alain-Fournier] Pseudonym of Henri-Alban Fournier (1886–1914), author of Le Grand Meaulnes (1913), translated into English as The Wanderer.
40.25 Chauntecleer Chaucer] See Chaucer’s “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.”
40.28 Spike Jones] American bandleader (1911–1965) who specialized in musical parodies including “Cocktails for Two” (1944) and “Hawaiian War Chant” (1946).
41.4–5 Whitman’s sudden use of KELSON] See “A Song of Myself,” section 5: “And that a kelson of the creation is love.”
41.13–14 Melville’s great passage on Dutch whaling-vessels] See Moby-Dick, chapter 101, “The Decanter,” in which there is a reference to “2,800 firkins of butter.”
41.36–37 Herman Charles Bosman . . . Cold Stone Jug.] The South African writer Bosman (1905–1951) killed his stepbrother in an argument in 1926 and was sentenced to death; the sentence was commuted, and he was released after serving five years. Cold Stone Jug (1949) is a fictionalized memoir of his experience of incarceration.
42.18 James Joyce Yearbook, 1949] A James Joyce Yearbook was edited by Maria Jolas.
44.8 Champa Gavin] In early 1950 Kerouac began another iteration of On the Road featuring Chad Gavin as protagonist. S
ee the typescript “Cast of Characters in On the Road as reconceived Feb. 15, 1950.”
45.31 “Crazy Sunday”] Short story (1932) by F. Scott Fitzgerald, originally published in The American Mercury.
52.24 Aumônes!] Alms! [Tr. note]
52.29 me!] Soul! [Tr. note]
57.1 Plays I’ve seen] My Heart’s in the Highlands by William Saroyan; The Beautiful People by Saroyan; Native Son by Paul Green and Richard Wright based on Wright’s novel; Flight to the West by Elmer Rice; Crime and Punishment by Rodney Ackland based on the novel by Dostoevsky; Red Gloves, adapted by Daniel Taradash from Sartre’s Les Mains Sales; Hamlet, directed by and starring Maurice Evans.
58.31 arrangeur] Arranger. [Tr. note]
58.32 manger] Eating; to eat. [Tr. note]
58.35 Gene Tunney] American boxer (1897–1978), world heavyweight champion, 1926–28.
60.36 Joe Martin] Older brother of Peter and Francis Martin in The Town and the City.
61.18 Warren Beauchamp] Warren Beauchamp appears as Ray Smith’s road companion in “Ray Smith Novel of Fall 1948,” an early attempt at On the Road.
62.5 Ghost of the Susquehanna] See part 1, chapter 14, of On the Road.
62.6 Reichian] See note 14.31.
THE NIGHT IS MY WOMAN
65.2–12 I have not liked . . . the idea of living.] The first paragraph was translated by Kerouac. [Tr. note]
65.7 what is said in the Bible] See Revelation 3:17: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
65.9–10 I use . . . thinking.] In translating this sentence, Kerouac excised a clause in the original in the middle of the sentence. Translated into English, the original reads “I use my sadness it’s the sadness of an old dog with big watery eyes to spend my time thinking.” [Tr. note]
65.31 mayhap yes, mayhap no] I translate the French patois teudbien (peut-être bien in standard French) with “mayhap,” a hybrid of “maybe” and “perhaps” that Kerouac uses in many of his works, such as Visions of Gerard, Big Sur, Pomes All Sizes, and others. [Tr. note]