Jack Kerouac - Reluctant Icon | Biographical Documentary

In September 1957 Viking Press, published On the Road - a novel by a little-known author Jack Kerouac. It was immediately acclaimed as a classic and made Kerouac famous overnight. He and other Beat Generation writers were inspirational in the development of 1960s counterculture, but Kerouac was openly critical of it. believing his work had been misunderstood. This documentary explores his life and complex personality, including his three month admission to a US Navy psychiatric hospital during World War Two to find out why he was such a reluctant icon.
Finding Out More
There are several biographies about Kerouac, some excellent, some less so. I have listed the ones I felt were useful on my Amazon Store Page. www.amazon.com/shop/professor...
References
Reynolds, M. (2016). Social madness in beat generation writing. The Expositor: A Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Humanities, 12, 80-99.
Wigand, M. E., Rüsch, N., & Becker, T. (2016). Jack Kerouac Revisited:“Madness” in: On the Road: Between Stigma and Glorification. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 204(10), 728-735.
Copyright Disclaimer
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.
Images
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
National Archive - www.archives.gov/publications...
University of North Carolina
Music
All music CC0 from KZbin
Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.

[@forcelightningcable9639]

Kerouac defined the beat generation, and taught many outcasts and discontents, including myself, how to live in a world that doesn’t give a damn about us. I love that man.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He helped give a voice to those whom society had forgotten.

[@Damien616]

@@professorgraemeyorston Nah, Bukowski did that.

[@matthewatwood8641]

​@@Damien616not saying I agree that he did, but if he did, that doesn't mean Kerouac didn't. Jack also beat him to it, since on the road came out 2 years before anything Bukowski published. I think that if Bukowski gave a voice to any forgotten, it was a different forgotten.

[@Damien616]

​@@matthewatwood8641 “Like anybody can tell you, I am not a very nice man. I don't know the word. I have always admired the villain, the outlaw, the son of a bitch. I don't like the clean-shaven boy with the necktie and the good job. I like desperate men, men with broken teeth and broken minds and broken ways. They interest me. They are full of surprises and explosions. I also like vile women, drunk cursing bitches with loose stockings and sloppy mascara faces. I'm more interested in perverts than saints. I can relax with bums because I am a bum. I don't like laws, morals, religions, rules. I don't like to be shaped by society.” ― Charles Bukowski, South of No North

[@EvanFrenchMusic93]

I live in Saint Petersburg, Florida, where Jack spent the last few years of his life. He has become quite an icon here in the city. The flamingo bar on mlk, where he used to hang out regularly, has become quite a shrine to him, and they have events throughout the year in celebration of him. Recently, his last remaining house that he owned while living here was made into a historical landmark, and I'm proud to say that I was one of the local voices that led to it being made into that.

[@michaelsteven1090]

I've never read Kerouac, but have known his background story, especially around Neal Casady..I had no idea he had spent time in St Petersburg, where I visit my sister every year..I will look up The Flamingo..Do you know where the Cactus bar was?..

[@lynemac2539]

You would probably enjoy his work. It's a delight to read!

[@billrom795]

I'm from Northport, NY and drink at Gunther's Tap room where Jack was a regular for some years

[@1boortzfan]

Have you ever heard the stories the Jack's ghost lives on in Haslem's book store? It's said that from time to time the workers in the book store will come in to work and all of Jack's books will have been rearranged on the shelves.

[@greatmcluhansghost7134]

what did McLuhan say: "every society admires its dead troublemakers and live conformists"?

[@Jupiterbotz]

Kerouac changed my life and has led me to great joy and great sorrow but I have always been ALIVE. Thanks, Jack, for the kick in the face. I love you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It was never going to be easy with Jack!

[@mateoneedham6807]

I loved Kerouac in high school, then stopped reading him. In my mid 30s, I picked up "On the Road" in a bookshop and started reading random passages and realized quickly how much the book shaped my consciousness. Thanks for the video. I loved it.

[@ettbattresverigenu]

Same here. I realised how lucky I was to have read it as a teenager.🇸🇪🇮🇹✌️

[@chairlesnicol672]

​@@11235butAnd does an orchestra play upon each written word as well! Lol!

[@edcottingham1]

@mateoneedham, I guess I missed my window for appreciating him. J. D. Salinger perhaps occupied that small space.

[@mateoneedham6807]

@@edcottingham1 Man, did I ever resonate with Holden Caulfield in high school...and today. Holden called people phonies. Today, I see it as falsehood and quite different from ignorance where intention becomes the benchmark. In so many ways, 2024 is much more difficult to navigate.

[@salpairadice]

I also read him in college, and then again in my 40's and so much more appreciated his descriptive passages.

[@jcfw]

Excellent video. In 1979, when I was 19, I flew on Laker Airways from UK to New York and hitchhiked across the USA as far as Seattle and down into Mexico. That's how much Kerouac influenced my life. I still cherish the memories of that trip.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Sounds great, I did the same in 83, but went North to Canada for some reason. It's sad that no-one hitchhikes any more, it was a great way of meeting people.

[@isabellalive2.081]

@@professorgraemeyorston I Hitch From Time to time When I have to , People who have Hitched will Pick you up & That is who picks up Hitchhikers.

[@HeyY.T.StopDeletingMyComments]

I hitched up & back California in my teens 1970s til 84, haven't hitched since, definitely learned things about myself, like when I was picked up by pervo creeps I kept my calm, detached, while I plotted my move to get away, if they made a weird move I was going to rob them, take their car, a feeling like a stone door would close over my heart while I coldly appraised a situation, if they hadn't backed off I'm certain they would have ended up tied up in the trunk of their car, I didn't know I had that coldness in me, maybe it was reaction to soul-less predators, but they must have sensed my survival instincts cuz they backed off..

[@isabellalive2.081]

@@HeyY.T.StopDeletingMyComments I hitched to court yesterday !

[@bonnievysotsky6311]

Dr.Yorston, my parents were neighbors of Jack in St.Pete.My dad was a Beatnik and great admirer. He would mow Jack's lawn and then they would sit in the yard drinking beer. When I was 2 ( a few years after his death) I wondered off and Stella found me and played with me in the front yard until my parents came looking for me.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Wow, thank you for that memory, I love hearing from people with a personal connection.

[@johnh.365]

I was going through an Air Force technical school in Denver when I read this book. I was 18 and it inspired me to seek out adventures on Larimar Street when it was still the rundown area, not some yuppie hangout. I left there in June, 1965 on a Greyhound bus heading to St Louis. When I got on the bus, I found a seat next to a young Mexican woman who was leaving her husband. We talked all the way to St Louis and to this day I regret letting her continue to Ohio. It was a Keroauc experience. I later would hitchhike thousands of miles looking for adventure.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Sounds like you were on the road.

[@chrisschepper9312]

I live next to the piano bar in Denver he used to hang out. I can picture him there today. Charlie Browns

[@QED_]

You were probably at Lowry AFB in Denver (?) In those days, airmen would congregate at the downtown corner of Broadway and Colfax . . . and people would give them lifts back to the base in east Denver. A way of life that is long gone now . . .

[@gregbryce]

Aside from everything else i'm still baffled by the shear readability of his work. It just seems to read itself and wash over you, much like the bebop he loved so much.

[@bwanna23]

Yes, he was soooooo beat.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

That was what was so different. I always struggled with Joyce, but Kerouac just flowed.

[@gordonlandreth9550]

Very interesting take on Jack's writing style . I read 'On the Road' in a short time , and I found that it did indeed carry you along . The climax of the book in a Mexican whorehouse seemed fitting .

[@miketayse]

I found On the Road and Easy Rider very inspirational as a young man. I bought motorcycles and traveled back and fourth between the coast of the U. S. I still love the look of this country. Thanks for the nice summation of Kerouac. I've read a few of the books and enjoyed them all, during my college years I took a class on Beat Literature, which was lots of fun. Thanks again for posting!

[@abeltasman7828]

He did change the reading habits of a generation and opened the door to literature for a lot of people

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree, literature became more real, more relevant for many people with the beat generation writers.

[@yourmother2739]

I am one I was there in the early sixties and wrote poetry and short quirky stories. I have completed two books. One is on the internet and been complimented.@@professorgraemeyorston

[@DouglasRichardson-er4ky]

... 🙋🏻‍♂️ triggered a million road trips into western USA I lived in Denver for a time go to My Brother's Bar great cheeseburgers and sandwiches and an unpaid signed tab from Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassidy posted by the bathrooms one of my favorite Denver haunts 😎👍🏽🏔️

[@yubeta]

I’m here for professors and academics doing KZbin docs.

[@JesusMagicPanties]

Wow! You must be an exceptionally unique human being!

[@petergianarakos4439]

My father played High School football with Jack. He didn't think much of his skill. Maybe bc my father's coach always referred to (my father) as "that Greek boy." He didn't think much of his writings either, but I did. I really liked the book and have read it several times. I too took the wrong message that he claims many did. I did my share of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. Disagreed with the Vietnam War, but went in the Army anyway. My wayward friends and I really adored his sense of freedom. I was also a loner, but with friends. I read many beat writers. I'm 77 now and I miss those days, but I feel my generation, the Boomers, brought a certain negativity to this country. This was a great biography. I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you!!

[@gordonlandreth9550]

Maybe because of the beat generation and the hippies after them the baby boomer generation was pushed away from traditional American values of faith , marriage and hard work that were the strength of the WW 2 generation . I shocked a lot of people when I joined the US Army as a hippie kid in 1974 , but Vietnam was over for us , and my upbringing and schooling was the last of the patriotic type for the boomers . 10 years later , the kids were much different than I was .

[@leadwithgreeneconomy]

Yah, where did the hippies and the beatniks go?

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Society has changed in all countries, there was plenty that was wrong with the pre-war era that is now better, but a lot of the good stuff has also been lost along the way.

[@wildmano1965]

I fricken love Kerouac's writing. He was really special.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was a great writer.

[@debaser520]

Probably the best documentary of Jack Kerouac ever been made! It was very pleasurable to listen to and watch! I have the most stimulating 30 minutes for a long time. Thanks very much!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Wow, thank you!

[@whistleblower4631]

✅ Excellent. ----------------------- I once went to a Film Fest, but (2) very genuine people were there - with INSIGHT into the French aspects of Kerouac. (+) They had the DOCUMENTATION, to back-it-up. ------------- Nonetheless, this gentleman's work is excellent. ✔️ DETROIT ✔️ the WIVES; and exactly HOW...they figured in his (narcissistic) Life. America and ALCOHOLISM. 💣the Military and The WAR, Labeled it SHELL SHOCK ( treatment). Making it ACCEPTABLE. --------- The Professor analysis WAS CORRECT. I have been in White Trash, Republican, SOCAL for (8) years. Knew-of (10) alcoholics. ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ (8) are DEAD. #9...was 'dragged' to expensive DETOX. At Age (70). Two Years LATER..., that weak PIG, returned to Alcohol; ...and probably Meth, 🗣️ "...Pearls before SWINE.." 😩.... Whining, begging...CRYING...(pathetic) 🗣️"...I don't want to...DIE..". 🟨 DRAMA....COWARD..." ....Wastes...everybody's...TIME. .... another LIEING, Manipulative.... A L C O H O L I C. ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖

[@joecitizen5185]

Truman Capote famously referred to On the Road as not being writing, but "typewriting". Yes, I believe Jack was a loner who didn't enjoy being alone. This may have been part of his struggle. His main flaw for me was not taking responsibility, especially for himself and his life choices. With this said, I love his writings. You seem to miss that most of his works were meant to be free form word jazz. He adored Bebop jazz and musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and I think he tried to emulate them with his use of words. You do mention his readings with Steve Allen, this is what he was all about. Close your eyes and listen to "The moon her majesty". Simply beautiful. Free flowing.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

That’s a great insight:”a loner who didn’t enjoy being alone.”Thank you for your input and thoughts.

[@Saturnia2014]

I tried reading Big Sur and I just couldn't finish it. I liked the beginning, but for me it became too incoherent towards the middle of the book. Addiction runs in my family and it began to remind me of family members who would start off okay in conversation, but then go on and on about nothing.

[@sunkintree]

That truman capote quote is sour grapes. I've read almost every Kerouac book he's put out but I haven't read anything of Capote. I'm not saying he's a bad writer (see how easy that is, capote?) but I haven't yet found a reason to concern myself with his books

[@tonysienzant6717]

@@sunkintree I'm actually going to start reading some Capote, after seeing him on an old David Letterman show I saw recently from 1982. Did you know Capote was the person that Harper Lee based the character "Dill" on in her book "To Kill A Mockingbird?" They were childhood friends. All of these writers did outstanding important work.

[@geraldfriend256]

@@tonysienzant6717Did not know that character was based on Capote. I do know Droopy the cartoon dog was.

[@paulscottfilms]

Absolutely great. I knew a lot about Kerouac from reading him, and general interest. This was a masterly description and analysis of Jack. It was Truman Capote who said > >that's not writing it's typewriting < ... Well, I can still pick up " On the Road" and have a huge emotional attachment. I also felt kin to Jack Kerouac in that I was a moody and angry alcoholic drinker for most of my life > Now a moody and angry non-drinker,

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks, non-drinking drinkers are the ones who stay alive!

[@mickjh55]

My dad was Jack Kerouac, (real name Dennis Hotte) but lived the same life as Jack. He was born in 1924 and passed away Dec. 12, 2023, 2 months before his 100th birthday! My dad traveled the country at least 40 times. He was born in Holyoke MA, his mom and dad from Canada, and I was born in CA.1955, what a long, strange trip it's been!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

What a story!

[@fiwalker6690]

Wow amazing .. was this doco true for what you knew of him .?

[@thecure728]

​@@fiwalker6690read the comment again, Jack did not die in 2023. He said his dad was Jack, but then said he lived the same life as Jack. So it's not his son, he never had a son

[@dannyviturale2403]

I work in holyoke

[@user-wp8ts6so6c]

Kerouac found me, I didnt find him, as said by many who have been swept up by his genius. Ken Kesey once described the Grateful Dead in a way that I would describe Kerouac. Dead fans are willing to sit through a lot of mediocre or even bad music until you get to that one moment, where it pops and everything makes sense and you feel nothing but pure joy. This was Kerouac. If you could handle his meandering you would eventually get to a point of pure astonishment at the combination of narrative and poetry. He was an icon for sure, larger than life and unable to handle his fame. I like the way you point this out and I think this happens to some famous people, which is understandable. There is a lot of pressure to live up to the stature of defining a generation. Bob Dylan struggled with similar things. He didn't want to be the leader of a movement, he really just wanted to be an artist with some really poignant things to say. I think Kerouac felt the same, but he was exalted. I liked your portrayal. I appreciated the academic quality of it but I am sure you can understand that there is side to this man that is hard to capture in documentary form. You have to feel it to truly understand it. I dont think his work helped me become who I am, but it definitely helped shape the final product. I still read him today as I have yet to find any author who delights me like Kerouac. Thank you

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Absolutely, I think it is impossible to convey the power of great art by talking about it, you have to experience it, whether it be writing or visual art.

[@georgeritmeester4736]

I don't get your comparison to Kesey's comment on Grateful Dead shows. I've read many, if not all, of Kerouac 's books, and all the ones I've read are excellent.

[@petebrandon8164]

Thanks Prof- I enjoyed watching that; I was an 18 y-o ‘student’ in Paris in 1961, and Kerouac and Ginsburg were very much part of our young lives - I still remember the cover of On the Road with Kerouac and Dean Cassidy; when I got back I had to write away to import Bob Dylan and Nina Simone records cos you couldn’t get them. Happy memories of a mis-spent but not wasted youth 🙃

[@farawayeye8423]

You have good taste.

[@What_I_Think_Happened]

Thanks Professor! I really don't enjoy Kerouac (his selfishness overwhelms me) but I appreciate your talent for making these biographies so I can learn about why he was the way he was.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I can remember being disappointed when I first read On the Road, because of the selfishness, but it grew on me.

[@ImaDieHrderLkeMyKidBruceWillis]

“On The Road” is my favorite book. I first read it when I was 18. I’m 46 now and have read it multiple times over the years.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It is a timeless book - have you read the original scroll?

[@aisle_of_view]

Read "Desolation Angels", it's also a great one of his.

[@chairlesnicol672]

​@@professorgraemeyorstonWhat are u professor of? Thnx!

[@user-jm4kz5bg9f]

I liked his book about Big Sur best

[@nicj99]

Careful you're approaching his expiration date of 47. Don't take him too literally!

[@biofueler]

When I was growing up 60-70 years ago Jack was in my peer group viewed as the leader of the counterculture beat generation. well done.👍

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@raymond7427]

I picked up my first Kerouac book off a paperback rack in a small seaside town in Ireland in 1969. Desolation Angels. The trip up Desolation Peak. The isolation of the fire lookout cabin. Meditations on Buddhism. To a naive eighteen year old, it all seemed pretty deep and certainly very romantic.

[@MaryamofShomal]

You really are an exquisite storyteller. I’m so happy to have stumbled upon your channel. I appreciate that you treat each subject with the humanity and compassion that each of us deserves.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying them.

[@al_3three]

Having been an avid reader of Jack Kerouac's books for many years, this documentary is a gem. The way it weaves through his life, and how the documentary has been constructed. Excellent.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@theodoreputala9501]

Thank you for putting the pieces together just so, Dr. Yorston. The influence of Neal Cassady on Kerouac can also be found in their correspondence, as well. There is a quality of the frontier of the American literary character in "The Joan Anderson Letter," from NC to JK, which might have had its place in influencing Kerouac's prose style in its transformation into that of On The Road. Cassady's account brings a spoken word oral run-on thought as experienced to the written word, fresh with characteristic bravado, courage and speed.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Yes, Cassady must have been some guy!

[@johnknottenbelt2727]

Great overview of Jack, his 'lives' & characters. I read On the Road back in the late 60s during my high-school years & having listened to your dissection, there are quite a few similarities which I share with Jack. I too have tasted from the many aspects of life & for over 40 years, preferred the company of my cats, music, art & various writings, poems, observations & stor8es, than the busy gathering spots, which so many are attracted to. No chemical dependency has ever chained me down, even though I enjoyed flirting with a number of them. In today's world, the often vacuous friendships which abound, hold no interest for me, so life has prepared me well in coping with excluding those who add nothing of true value to my learning on this 'Road of Life'. I wish you you all a safe & interesting journey on your's. Just don't waste precious time on worthless endeavours. Check everything out, but abandon that which drains you. 😊❤

[@mimig6511]

I cannot believe that I was just speaking about him with a friend.....we both went away to "look up" some information...and here...the good Professor gives us this!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad to be of service!

[@bohotumbleweed8319]

The phones are spying on ya.

[@mikeoglen6848]

I bought a copy of one of his books in New York - I cam home and there was a piece on that very same book offered to me by YT...@@bohotumbleweed8319

[@innocente7795]

You clearly don’t know how you are being surveilled then.

[@mattaylor8935]

Yep phone heard that

[@1960Sawman]

I read Kerouac's ON THE ROAD many years ago. I enjoyed reading it. A very unique style of writing. I later did a lot of hitchhiking around the United States. I was on the road for most of 23 years (1996-2020). I had three books self-published. Met some great people in my travels. I remember reading in ON THE ROAD, Kerouac said that the most beautiful girls were in Des Moines, Iowa.

[@victoryak86]

History has a way of sort of putting cultural icons into perspective, seeing value where it exists but also the dead end of trying to self medicate and the “it’s better to burn out than fade away” ethic.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree you need the perspective of time to truly evaluate someone.

[@baronsaturday9560]

I just began to read 'On The Road' again, and I also love 'Babydriver' an autobiography from his daughter Jan, who just like her father, had an amazing photographic memory..! That book is one big wild ride, and she wasn't only the daugher of Jack but also of her mother Joan, a lovely eccentric and extravert woman. Jan's personality is a lot like her mom's and she's got her lust for adventure and traveling probably from her dad (maybe also from his books) 'Babydriver' begins somewhere in South America where Jan (16 yrs.) lives with a guy in the jungle, she's 8,9 months pregnant, and from then on the book becomes this fantastic wild ride from her early youth in Harlem (NY) to all kinds of different places. She's got great personality and great intellect, lots of humour, and she didn't see using heroin as a low period but enjoyed the trip (I did too. There's enough people who function fine cause they don't use much & who are using for many years. They work a normal day job and no one knows cause they function fine) Jan Kerouac was an amazing woman and I wish Jack would have known her better. In that book she said that she only met him once (I believe when she was 8 yrs. old) and he looked astonished when he met her, cause she looked a lot like him while he always believed that she was from another guy.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

She sounds great, but it is sad that they never really spent any time together.

[@TheRelizabeth]

For me, On The Road brought into sharp relief the vast difference between what being human was and what we were being told it was. Leave It To Beaver it was not. Thank you for bringing around the human that was Jack.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I think his writing opened up a lot different possibilities and choices fer people.

[@timotto8342]

Oh Mr. Jack kerouac. I drove around the west for the most part thinking about his prophetic life and efforts that were great in my opinion. In the 1990s when I wrote a song about him, I didn't know Neal did all the driving? He was still a brilliant star to me. I've read several books about him too. Thanks.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@waywardtycoon]

As a teenager I was puzzled why Going Down the Road was so popular. I dismissed it as rambling and incoherent, lacking anything of redeeming value. In contrast I was absolutely blown away by James Joyce's The Dubliners.

[@bornintime5654]

About the best 30 minutes I've spent on KZbin in a long while. Very well done. Thanks for that.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@chuckjines67]

Thank you for your honesty on the subject. People like to forget the bad parts of his life

[@paulcarey191]

whaaaaaaaaaaaaat are u talking about??? don't forget to vote for bernie sanders.. lolol - good god!

[@leolacasse6278]

Nice work professor. I have noted the influence of Thomas Wolfe in Kerouac's work. But Tom Wolfe was under the influence of Tuberculin Mycobacterium in the right side of his brain. I also appreciate your mention of alcoholism in the French Canadian population. This is the saddest of conditions.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I didn't realise he had tuberculous meningitis - as did Modigliani.

[@frankshifreen]

Drugs and alcohol don’t help- did not mention “Pull My Daisy” great film

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

That’s strange-l just watched the video and l don’t recall any mention of alcoholism in the French-Canadian community.

[@leolacasse6278]

the professor doesn't say that about the French Canadians, but he does mention Jack Kerouac and his alcoholism. My father was was Catholic French Canadian who died of alcoholism. I met Jan Kerouac at an AA meeting. the statistics are that the French are very prone to alcoholism, whether it be in France or Quebec. @@BarryHart-xo1oy

[@genevievetatum1536]

Kerouac is one of my favorite authors. On The Road introduced me to a style writing that was new to me. Jack was a complex individual but a very real one. I have read about a half dozen of his books of which 'Dharma Bums' is my favorite. What I loved about Jack is that he actually LIVED those experiences, not intellectualized or dreamed about. Kerouac was complex, but an icon.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

He was a complex personality, but the adoption of him as an icon says more about society than it does him and I think this added to his discomfort.

[@apolloguide]

I read On The Road when I was 11 in 1958 and it shaped my life. He was a textbook Pisces..always sensitive and flexible and hard to pin down and on the move. I became a carbon copy his objective life lifestyle and so as well my friends then and now. My life traipsing Bach and forth across the US. Many many adventures combined with many homes and women and dogs and cats. None of my friends ever settled down until our 50’s choosing to burn our candle from both ends instead always broke but with our memories to recall. Others say “write a book” but I cannot allow myself to reveal the lives of others because it would violate their privacy. People need to experience their lives without a plan..freshly and with mystery unfolding In front of them.

[@apolloguide]

Aquarius going on a beerun.

[@kevinmarleyRevolution777]

Professor Yorston, Jack Kerouac was very important to me, and I wrote Nirvana which is somewhat my adaptation of 'On the Road" for the 21st century. The main character doesn't travel across America per se, but it's about a free thinking Buddhism (the best of the East) coupled with the best of the West. I've written 12 books. I think what we had in common was that we both tried to act like the Corpus Callossum of the American mind.

[@DanielaDePaulis]

Great video and thanks for the reading list! Philip K. Dick would be a great artist to see in one of your future videos.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Great suggestion.

[@KuldaevaWatercolor]

Thank you, professor Graeme, for the in-depth review of Kerouac’s body of work and his life. Your video shows how much effort and creativity you’ve put into making it. I greatly enjoyed this piece!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Many thanks!

[@katherinea.williams3044]

Brava! Another great video! Thank you Professor! Love & Light from Miami Shores🦚 Stay safe mate✌🏼🌎

[@edgarsnake2857]

I drank a few beers in the bars that JK frequented in Northport and I used to drive past his house there and in Lowell, Ma. to pay homage to the great writer with the unhappy ending. My favorite book of his the Dharma Bums. I never viewed him as a hero but as a trailblazer running from the conformity of gray business suit corporation men. Thanks, Jack. And, thank you Professor for a sober look at a fatally unsober man who tilted the world ever so slightly in a more free-spirited direction.

[@bartonone2005]

Thank you, Professor Yorston, your presentation explained a great deal. After reading "On the Road," I felt disappointed. It left me feeling unhinged. I can't remember the exact year, but it was definitely after university when I read the novel. In addition to the regular curriculum of the Catholic high school I attended, I read Sartre, Camus, Selby and Salinger before I graduated. Much to the chagrin of the religious instructors, who threatened to confiscate these books in study hall. None of those authors ever affected me negatively the way Kerouac did. I understood the stream of consciousness device. But Kerouac made me feel uneasy. As a result, I never had any desire to seek out his other works. Chuck in Northern New England

[@rd264]

I think his life was "uneasy". This is very clear in Dharma Bums. Perhaps you tuned in to him more than a casual reader?

[@MarkFranklin-ws5jf]

I had planned an On the Road adventure from my job in Hawaii. Travelling to LA and was loaned a small station wagon and had 30 days to drive up to British Columbia. A friend handed me a small book titled, Dharma Bums. I knew about it but had only read "On the Road " and some of Kesey's novels. I decided since it was a short book, I could only read 3 pages a day in order to finish it at the end of my drive. Well, I parked on the slopes of MT Baker , Washington had my alcohol in hand and realized, that the books story ends on MT Baker!!!

[@RawOlympia]

awesome!

[@battambangscooterandmotorc303]

Glacier is a beautiful tiny town

[@jeffsilverman6104]

Great presentation of a complicated man. He has fascinated me since I can remember, especially his friendship with Cassady, whose connection to Jerry Garcia is legendary. Neal was everything Jack wasn't able to be, as is often the case. I often wonder how different Jack and his writing would have been, had they never met. Such abstract and influential cats. They will never stop fascinating me. Thanks for a stirring video to bring it all back.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Interesting question - Kerouac and the Beats without Cassady? A lot more depressing I suspect.

[@jeffsilverman6104]

@@professorgraemeyorston Polar opposites whose lives had so much in common, quite the paradox.

[@seanegan3296]

"The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began. There was cowboy Neal at the wheel on a bus to Nevereverland"

[@jeffsilverman6104]

@@seanegan3296 But the heat came 'round and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day.....

[@bonnielester3724]

When I heard he was aboard the Dorchester it really caught my attention. When I studied to become a chaplain I recalled reading about the 4 chaplains on the Dorchester who gave away their life jackets & when the ship was sunk by a German U boat on February 3 1943 they perished. Kerouac’s inability to deal with authority got him off the ship & saved his life in this instance. .

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Yes the Dorchester tragedy is a whole story in itself.

[@DePalma.]

Sad. Growing up in an alcoholic family & becoming alcoholic himself. Alcoholics & those from alcoholic families can have a hard time feeling a part of the world, many times tend to isolate & struggle with authority…depression, etc. Had he gotten help, he might have had a happier life & not left a trail of unhappy relationships.

[@captainscarlett1]

Kerouac was like a train wreck you can't look away from. A fascinating person you don't want to be. Burroughs was even more so, he had a lot more depth but he was definitely not someone you want to be. The whole beat movement was counter-inspiring. It showed how sad and pointless life could be. To not be like Kerouac or Burroughs was a positive goal.

[@bighams69]

Could not have said it better myself.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Spot on!

[@angusm9419]

Add Chet Baker to the long list of super talented artists "I wouldn't want to be."

[@sunkintree]

I suppose it requires someone who aspires to be a writer or artist to want to be Kerouac. Always interesting what the normies think.

[@jeremymahrer1832]

Again, for 30 minutes to cover his life so well quite amazing and faultless. I think Big Sur was somehow his best work. But please keep your channel going, it can only go from strength to strength. Thank you .

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I hope so.

[@johngurganus3348]

He was a big hit with me in high school and college. Became a freind with mike perkins who lived with alan watts on a house boat in sausalito...great days. days

[@ClaydenLee]

Big Sur is a dank, oppressive nightmare of a book but the journey is worthwhile. It has more to teach than On The Road. Good choice for best work I say

[@johnnyloveful3818]

On the road was my life and big sur hiway 1 was a hiway that I drove a tour bus along, never heard of Jack before but will read some of his material, I have some common issues with this man, thanks for the insights and very informative inspirational delivery of his roller coaster lifetime of experiences 🇺🇸🇨🇦

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Oh wow! Some drive that Route 1, I've tried it a couple of times but landslides closed off sections.

[@stevemehl469]

I have been reading Kerouac and books about him for the past 54 years. I am really impressed by this video because it encapsulated so many of Kerouac's highlights from his complex life. Well done indeed professor! Steve Mehl retired clinical psychologist

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks Steve.

[@gilchristhaas9865]

This is quite an excellent presentation. I was a Kerouac freak in my college years in the mid-1980s and read everything that had been published about him at that time. Most of it was still fairly hagiographic. More decades have allowed us all to look at Kerouac more objectively. As a Psychology teacher, I particularly appreciated the updated speculations on Kerouac’s psychological profile, which make a lot of sense and also help explain Kerouac’s greatness as well as his limitations as a literary figure.

[@angelacostin227]

Thank you for this wonderfully detailed summary with some facts I didn't know, and trust me, I thought I knew them all about Jack! Love his work!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I always like to hear that I have offered something new to people who have a good knowledge of a subject.

[@michaelfritts6249]

At some point in the mid 80's, I wandered into a small bookstore.. I emerged with one of the best purchases of my life.. Black letters on a white t-shirt: "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.." Kerouac "Weird".. "Different.." made me smile 😉 "Huh?".. "What's that mean?" often resulted in a wandering conversation.. Fun Stuff!! 😁

[@agtake12]

There is a beautiful pack up in Lowell. Massachusetts call Kerouac Park all granite monuments and benches. His favorite place in Lowell is the Grotto of Fatima our Lady. It's a beautiful place to sit and meditate

[@jenhasken]

I disregarded him for years. Then, thankfully, I got pulled in. He was a great writer. Thank you Jack for what you gave the world. It is precious. Fascinating video. Lots of things I didn’t know about him. Surprised about the sex stuff. He strikes me as shy and awkward with women in particular. Also, not a big fan of Cassidy. I read Joan Cassidy’s book. She was close to Jack, and they even had an awkward affair, encouraged by Neal, who definitely WAS a sex fiend. Cassidy was terrible to Joan, leaving her for long periods of time to do his own thing. He was an absolute speed freak (or else completely manic all the time, or both), and used people constantly. This comes up a lot in Jack’s books. Some of your closing thoughts remind me much more of Cassidy than Kerouac. I would DEFINITELY say that Cassidy was a narcissist. Jack, on the other hand, strikes me as someone with a very tender heart, who struggled to really connect with people. Writing autobiographical novels isn’t “incredibly selfish “ either. They were what he wrote, and the are all, to varying degrees, gifts of a great writer.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Fair point about the novels, but I still think he comes across as selfish.

[@rtsesmelis]

Excellent video! I never read anything of Kerouac, but was always curious. Your style of narrating, is composed, without drama and you let the story speak for itself. I hope to catch more of your videos. Thank you!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it! Welcome aboard.

[@franktartan6808]

Thank you professor. I read OTR in 1980, just before spending a year traveling around the states. I rarely read non fiction just because there are so many books to read and only so much time. As an engineer I do miss the other side of life….

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I hitch hiked from Boston to Canada in the eighties - I met some fantastic people and it seems a shame that the world is too dangerous for anyone to do it now.

[@ChicagoFaucet.etc.]

I read both "On the Road" and "Dharma Bums" while I myself was in the military. I understand why Jack thought, and was upset about, the Beat Movement being misunderstood. When you read a Kerouac book, and then look at Ginsberg, you can see two different trains going in two different directions. I tried the other stuff like "Naked Lunch", but it just didn't take in me. But, Kerouac's words, to this day, some thirty years later, still conjure up mental images in my head. I don't remember the words, but I remember his memories. In the end, I think Jack had a fatal case of existentialism and nihilism. Death was probably the only release.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree, I much prefer his writing to Ginsberg and Burroughs.

[@Jim-du5yp]

One of the all-time GREATS ...Thanks for uploading your video ⭐✨⭐✨⭐⭐⭐✨⭐

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, I agree.

[@poetryjones7946]

Listening a second time. You’ve obviously done much research, your breakdown is excellent. Poor Jack. The horror of his alcoholism, hooked up with his sad upbringing & his bizarre maternal fixation perfectly set the stage for his eventual slow suicide brought on by the freaky fame he never wanted.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@user-qt4qp6bj1q]

Poor Jack's daughter.

[@user-qt4qp6bj1q]

What else did he have? He didn't want to work.

[@stevemolina9035]

A great, yet tragic , bio.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Yes, sadly it doesn't end well.

[@allenraysmith6885]

I agree with your documentary! Well done!!❤❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@irinaiaco]

Thank you for yet another informative and comprehensive documentary. I used to love Kerouac when I was a teen. As Internet was not widely available during the early 90s, I was not aware of his bio and all the not-so-flattering details. As a result, watching your documentary about him gave me a bitter-sweet feeling. It's interesting how the less likable of us can leave such gems behind. Looking forward to your next upload! My suggestion, if not covered already, would be Charles Baudelaire. 😊

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, yes Baudelaire was an interesting character.

[@annaconda76]

Congratulations. You just realized that he was a human being. Flawed, like all of us.

[@shawnclare-nb1up]

His tender humanity showed through in his writings despite his troubles and his writing inspired many artists beyond count...i think this portrait is too harsh however clinically accurate...

[@danglybit1]

Thanks Graeme for another intriguing and insightful review... The beat was another cog in our offbeat addiction to music and literature, and film in the 60's and 70's...We were blessed to have so much to immerse ourselves.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

They were great times!

[@macymakesmagic]

Thank you so much for posting this. I have been studying the beats for years and I never really got a full picture of Jack Kerouac until I saw your video. I would love it if you would consider profiling Burroughs or some of the other Beats.❤

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, Burroughs is next on the list.

[@tenderbarknight]

Great video. I ran into the Dharma Bums by a hippie English Teacher right after High School. I can say assuredly that my life path immediately changed. I only read the Dharma Bums, but the Beatniks got a hold of me for a short while.

[@indigocheetah4172]

An exceptional summary, thank you, Professor Yorkston. Have you thought of Peter Sellers, he was a genius of comedy, he lived a troubled life.

[@bobtaylor170]

I would enjoy that.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you, great suggestion, I'll add him to the list.

[@indigocheetah4172]

@@professorgraemeyorston, thank you.

[@peterlownds6379]

Thanks for this excellent remembrance, Dr. Y. I too was under his spell from adolescence on and met and drank with him at Gunther's Bar in Northport where we both lived in the early and mid-sixties. When he would fly from NY to St Petersburg, FL he'd wear a tag around his neck with his name and address so that if he fell out someone would deliver him to Stella or memère. As vocal aide-mémoires, the Steve Allen album and the Zen Haikus with Zoot Sims are both great, as is his spontaneous narration of Robert Frank's short film "Pull My Daisy." Dr. L.

[@georgemunoz878]

Fascinating documentary. Thank you

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@uratrick]

Doctor I am grateful that you took the time and effort to put this video out.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@eileenbauer4601]

I have never read Kerouac and knew next to nothing about him, so this was informative. Of interest to me was, my father, also born in 1922, did his Navy basic training the same year and also in Rhode Island, so it’s possible they may have crossed paths. Thanks as always professor!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

It's a small world!

[@andriesscheper2022]

Maybe try reading his books?

[@laraoneal7284]

Ty Sir for uploading this.

[@dewanevl]

This was wonderful and well-researched. I’ve read Memory Babe and still learned a lot of things I didn’t know about him in this piece. Nice mix of narrative and video as well. As an alcoholic, i have less compassion for him than I probably should, but this piece was done from a place of true compassion and understanding. Well done. If anybody reading liked this, I’d also recommend watching The Last Days of Phil Ochs on here. Both of these gave me hope that there is some good meaningful stuff to be found in this vast wasteland.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thank you.

[@summerlakephotog8239]

My favorite Kerouac novel is Dharma Bums. Gary Snyder, the poet, is pretty much the central figure. He was portrayed as an eccentric brimming with life and enthusiasm particularly for the outdoors and Zen Buddhism. He would often tell Jack that he drank too much. Jack seemed very serious about seeking enlightenment but as you said the solitude as a fire lookout may have dredged up old traumas. The novel seems more purposeful and less “beat” than …Road and Big Sur. Gary Snyder is still alive and kicking at 93 and with lots of great stories to tell about the Beats and Hippies and Zen.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I agree, Dharma Bums is my favourite too.

[@tr7b410]

One can imagine the zen-drunk Alan Watts had an influence on Kerouac. I will give you an amazing insight into the end game in our spiritual evolutionary trajectory:Ramana Maharshi Be as You Are Chapter 12 Experience and Samadhi...Sahaja samadhi-the unified field of awareness or Born Again.When the ego is destroyed along with its subconscious mind-unconscious mind revealing the superconscious mind. We are according to spiritual savant Sri Yukeswars book The Holy Science sliding into the Dwarpara yuga,a big departure from the Kali yuga/dark age. Indeed we can see in the amount of information being downloaded into the conscious minds of NDE experiencers a paradigm shift in our evolutionary trajectory. Indeed even the next generation is showing signs of this increase in the transparency between the conscious-subconscoous mind.See new series;The Ghost Inside my Child.Actual testimonials from children in the west remembering their past lives and beyond. GODSPEED

[@poetryjones7946]

Oooooh, this was excellent, well done. 👌🏾 Poor old alcoholic Jack. I’ll always remember his friend describing Kerouac, drunk out of his mind, in his living room grasping at his mother & insisting “you’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to marry! I only wanna marry you!” And his mother trying to make light of it - “ oh now stop that, your friends will think you’re strange!”

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Yes, it was a close bond!

[@MPM6785ChitChat]

Apart from a mother fixation wasn't he also known to be quite rascist ?

[@Spamhero]

the lecture was a recap of Kerouac's book the vanity of Duluoz.In this book he seemed the opposite of freewheeling jack so pictured in his later novels I'm not really a fan of stream of consciousness novels but The vanity of Duluoz .struck me as different because of the way he described the death of his father.

[@davidschlessinger9945]

read On the Road in High School. Huge influence on me and my life

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Me too!

[@bernardpare2509]

Merci ! Very interesting . I read On the Road at 19 hitchiking across Canada from Québec to Yukon . Dharma Bums followed . Coup de coeur .

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Have you read any of his work in French?

[@marknewton6984]

An original, like Hemingway.😎

[@MoonDoggie999]

Very enlightening info thank you for this! I had found snippets about his life that never made sense but what you’ve done here makes sense of not only the man himself but also explains how that writing style of his was birthed. Well done!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@groominator-magneticequato7195]

Love your storytelling, pace, and soothing voice. Subscribed.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Welcome aboard.

[@kenlowey1]

very good description, thank you

[@drexelmildraff7580]

I've read many books on the Beats. Excellent job in covering Kerouac's life in a short video, and insightful commentary on his personality. If anyone was the love of his life, it was Neil Cassidy, someone who used people even more than Jack did. Perhaps that was what created their bond.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Very true.

[@mikeoglen6848]

Didn't Dean leave Jack in a bad way once?

[@georgehaas1774]

Read this book 3 times and each time, I learn to strongly dislike Sal and dean. Although, what I appreciate is not only writing but the raw honesty. The man was so vulnerable it can make you uncomfortable but in so many ways he’s able to capture you in his expressions about the mundane. That it makes having a drink, a pie and cigarette feel so poetic effortlessly. I can go on and on because I love Kerouac for his writings and his flaws. After reading some of his books and knowing the way he died it really does feel like losing a good friend that you are rooting for to get better.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Very true.

[@martitinkovich4489]

He wrote great things, and was a writer for his time. I haven't read any of his work in some 30 years, and after having traveling the troubled "road" of my own life, would not likely find what i once found so appealing. I still have some of his works and wouldn't mind a re-read of On the Road if i can muster the courage for it.

[@joaosantos1163]

Im Brazilian … Kerouac is my heroes too ! When I read on the road change my life I was 22. Now I’m 58 and still thinking about Cassidy ! Jack was libertarian for me leaving in agriculture in south Brazil… now I’m live in London.. but I’m still have the vision I got from him ! Thanks I love you video !

[@DavidLopez-rk6em]

Im 32 and bored with society. I love reading comments like yours that show other Jack fans were inspired to create their own adventures. I fantasize about living in my car and traveling acrosss the US

[@djquinn11]

Very well done, thank you!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you liked it!

[@maxwigant2011]

Great Presentation!

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Thanks for watching

[@maryeliason1504]

I read a lot about him & a few of his books. Thank you for your insights & kind observations.

[@marcmeinzer8859]

Jack Kerouac’s cousin, also named Kerouac, was a crew member aboard my submarine the USS John Marshall, who was discharged just prior to my joining the crew. So apparently his cousin was more tolerant of the navy than he was. But Kerouac did eventually become a purser officer in the merchant marine probably because he knew how to type so well.

[@kennethquintini658]

Excellent, thank you for researching mr Kerouacs life, I've been sober 37 years now and I really appreciate on the road!☮️

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you enjoyed it! Keep going!

[@R4lee444]

I learned so much from this... thank you.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peredavi]

Fascinating lecture. My father was a radio operator ,merchant marine in WW2 . I became a merchant marine engineer and then put myself through flight school and became a professional pilot. Mr.Kerouac certainly wasn’t made to work under authority. I didn’t always like it, but it’s necessary. I’m going to have to read “On the Road” on my next camping trip.

[@dromrai]

Thank you for a really good mini biog of Kerouac, I have been a fan of his since the mid 60’s when I first discovered him, ‘On The Road’ changed my life, it completely redirected me, I hitch-hiked across Europe and Asia soon after (you are so right, what a pity people no longer travel this way), in the 80’s I drove NY to LA via Denver tracing some of his travelling and I have friends who had met him and I have also discussed Neal with some of those who knew him. Some of the experiences and relationships I have had with American women have reflected much of that culture, not always in a comfortable way, now 60 years later, I regret none of it. However I will admit that the more I learned about him the more I realized he was a deeply flawed man but still an incredibly influential one, in many ways the man of the time.

[@tonybmusic1166]

In the late 60’s I was playing guitar in a jazz club in St. Petersburg called the Blue Room. During one of our breaks the tenor player told me he had just talked to some guy sitting at a table who complemented the band and introduced himself as Jack Kerouac. He asked me if I ever heard of him. I immediately went over to the table and saw this drunk sitting there wearing shorts and a t-shirt…..and grabbing his hand, introduced myself while telling him that I was a big fan. He was an incoherent drunk and by the time our break was over the bartender 86’d him.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

That's a sad way to meet one of your heroes!

[@hulagirlhere]

I love your content. But also, love the subtle changes to the objets d’art and book titles behind you….

[@elliepascoe5954]

Agreed....the little vase is gone😂

[@hulagirlhere]

@@elliepascoe5954 glad that I’m not the only one who notices the minutiae!!! 😀

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Wow, I'm impressed you noticed.

[@Nothing_to_see_here]

Fantastic video Sir, thank you!

[@uratrick]

I have watched so many times.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

Glad you're still finding it interesting!

[@Claytone-Records]

I recall that he thought of himself as a recording angel. I believe his Catholic upbringing messed him up a bit. I think he got the idea that if he drank himself to death it would not be suicide and thus forgiven. I prefer the Dharma Bums over most of his other, more popular works. But there is a darkness in it that he picked up on Desolation Peak in the two months he spent alone there. It seems to have followed him like a shadow for the rest of his daze. Excellent overview, Professor.

[@professorgraemeyorston]

I'm not sure if it was desolation peak that made him darker or being thrust into the limelight after on the road was published.

[@Claytone-Records]

@@professorgraemeyorston I think you are right about the Navy doctor’s assessment of him. He did not play the public game very well nor did he do well in interpersonal relationships. And he also kind of blew being a recluse quite a bit. Some of the things he thought were so important, football, being at sea, travel, writing and maybe even the spirituality he craved became less over time. And noticeably so after On the Road was published.