Born in 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, Jean Louis Lebris 'Jack' Kerouac was the last of three children born to French-Canadian parents. Raised in a French-Canadian community, Kerouac did not begin to learn English until he entered school at the age of six and he did not become fluent until he entered a public junior high school. At this same school, an eighth-grade English teacher recognized and began to encourage Kerouac's writing talents. This recognition of his potential engendered a passion for literacy and language which stayed with Kerouac all of his life. He became a voracious reader, often skipping classes in high school in order to select his own material at the library. Also a talented athlete, Kerouac became a star on the school football team and was offered football scholarships to both Boston College and Columbia University.
Kerouac entered Columbia in 1940 after a successful year at prep school
where he played football, wrote for school publications, and developed a lively
interest in jazz. His record at Columbia was not as good. While he enjoyed his
Shakespeare class, he failed chemistry, and broke his leg early in the first
football season. After his injury his interest in classes declined further as
he spent his time reading the newly discovered works of Thomas Wolfe who would
influence him for years to come. In September of 1941 he quit football and
school and spent the next several years working at a variety of odd jobs,
including a stint in the merchant marine; in February 1943 he enlisted in the
Navy. He was honorably discharged a month later as an
Back in New York in the spring of 1944 Kerouac married Edie Parker as a
means of raising bond money after a friend, Lucien Carr, involved him as a
material witness in a murder case. After a few months of living a
With the advance money from
Kerouac's search for a personal style was finally realized in late 1951
when a friend suggested that he
Kerouac continued to write and to refine his style. His work never received much favor with the established literary critics, especially during the fifties when anything that seemed to support anarchy was vilified. In 1966 Kerouac married Stella Sampas, the sister of his childhood friend Sebastian Sampas. He died in St. Petersburg, Florida, of a ruptured stomach vein in October 1969.
The small Jack Kerouac Collection, 1948-1982, is composed of galley proofs for
Elsewhere in the Ransom Center are two vertical files containing biographical information and literary criticism of Kerouac's work. Also present are 65 cassette tapes from a 1982 Kerouac
Purchases and gifts, 1963-1990
The
Chelsea S. Dinsmore, 2000
Other materials associated with Jack Kerouac may be found in the following collections at the Ransom Center: