Beat Generation

Born Jean-Louis Kerouac, Kerouac is the most famous native son of Lowell, Massachusetts. His parents had immigrated as very young children from the Province of Quebec, Canada, and Kerouac spoke a local French Canadian-American dialect before he spoke English.

He was a football star at Lowell High School and upon graduation in 1939 was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University. However, after an injury sidelined him on the football team, Kerouac grew unhappy with Columbia and dropped out of school.

During this period in New York City, Kerouac became friends with the poet Allen Ginsberg and the novelist William S. Burroughs, as well as Herbert Huncke and others who would be associated with the “Beat Generation.”

Read more at the Wikipedia bio of Jack Kerouac

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photograph of Jack Kerouac in Tangier in 1957, by William Burroughs. Photograph from Taking Shots: The Photography of William S Burroughs’ is at The Photographers’ Gallery until 30 March 2014. The associated book is published by Prestel.