Meet Jack, my Beatnik Cousin

Here's Jack Kerouac. As it turns out, he's my 8th cousin. Yes, the man who most famously gave us On the Road and The Subterraneans. The man who hung out with the likes of Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. The man I studied in college, and the man who inspired me to devote myself to a vagabond life of travel and writing. I was under the influence of Kerouac when at age nineteen, I went on the road, arriving in Europe with basically no money, donning a black beret, hitching rides, keeping a journal of stream of consciousness ramblings, poetic observations, and speaking bad French.

Oh, and switching identities when necessary.

Yes, I switched identities because once my student visa expired, I needed something else to get work (read: to make money) A helpful lady at a temp agency suggested I tell people I was a Canadian. At the time, it seemed preposterous. Me--a Canadian.

And now, it doesn't feel so preposterous, because recently, my husband did a deep dive into “finding my roots” (he's my own personal Henry Louis Gates, Jr.) As it turns out, I'm not only very much a French Canadian, but I'm the cousin to my long-time literary hero--Jack Kerouac!

Am I surprised that Jack is my cousin? No. Not at all.

Okay, maybe a little bit.

Creative Friends--when you were a child you had favorite character in a book. You embraced a secret identity. Perhaps you joined a quirky fan club. As a young adult you became obsessed with a singer, a band. You sang in front of the mirror, melding and melting into this imagined version of yourself. You dreamt of a life that was cinematic, epic, and impossibly romantic.

And then you grew up. You told yourself that you needed to be realistic. You needed to earn a living and be a responsible citizen of the world. But, all those fantasies from childhood--you as a Beatnik or a secret agent or a movie star--they still live within you. You know this. It might take many, many years--but if you keep the dreams alive, eventually they will come true. Not in the way you expect, but they will come true, in a different way. A better way.

Keep dreaming, my friends. Keep dreaming.

Love,

Jamie