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Jan Kerouac (nee Janet Michelle Kerouac) (February 16, 1952 – June 5, 1996) was a writer and the only child of beat
generation author Jack Kerouac and Joan Haverty Kerouac. She was born in Albany, New York. Her mother left Jack
while pregnant, and Jack refused to acknowledge the baby as his daughter. A blood test when Jan was nine years old
proved his paternity. Though Jan met her father only twice, she inherited his wanderlust, and like both her parents, Jan
made frequent use of drugs and was no stranger to trouble. After a teenage stint in a mental hospital, Jan delved
deeper into the 1960s underworld of drugs, before leaving for Mexico at the age of fifteen. For the next few decades,
she traveled across the country with a reckless abandon that echoed that of her father and Neal Cassady.
Married and divorced twice, Jan lived a troubled life marked by periods of self-destruction. In 1968, she gave birth to
a stillborn child and had no other children.Jan was an extra in the film Heart Beat (1980), about her father's triangular
love affair with Carolyn Cassady and Neal Cassady, and she reportedly gave actor John Heard advice on how to curl
his lip like Jack did. She published two semi-autobiographical novels, Baby Driver in 1981, and Trainsong
in 1988. While working on her third novel, Parrot Fever, in Puerto Rico, her kidneys failed, sending her back
to the United States. She died in Albuquerque in 1996 of kidney disease.
At the time of her death, she was involved in legal battles with Stella Sampas Kerouac, Jack's last wife; and after Stella's
death, with Stella's blood relatives, over his estate, including the location of his grave and ownership of his papers.
On July 24, 2009, a judge in Pinellas County, Florida ruled that the will of Gabrielle Kerouac (died 1973) that gave
all rights to Jack Kerouac's work to the Sampas family, was a forgery. The legal action against this will was originally brought
by Jan Kerouac and a nephew of Jack's.
Author Gerald Nicosia, who at one time was Jan Kerouac's personal literary representative, edited and published
Jan Kerouac: A Life in Memory in January 2009.
We gather ahead of the program for a no-host supper at Haystack Pizza
promptly at 6 PM, one block away on 24th St. between Sanchez and Vicksburg
streets. Parking is available at 5 dollars for three hours in the parking
lot next door to the restaurant. Nearby MUNI: the 24, the 48 and the J Church.
This Season's Line-Up (Subject to Change)March 29th, 7:30 PM, Free Admission: Dennis Willis, founder of the Flick Nation website and author of Flick Nation: 2010 Movie Yearbook," his compendium of over 500 reviews and commentary about the entertainment industry. April 5th, 7:30 PM, Free Admission: Screening of "Papers," the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status. 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and the door to their future slams shut. It is against the law to work or drive. Currently, there is no path to citizenship for these young people. April 19th, 7:30 PM, Free Admission: May 3rd, 7:30 PM, Free Admission: Filmmakers Irving Saraf and Allie Light present "Empress Hotel", a documentary that tracks former homeless people rebuilding their lives. May 17th, 7:30 PM, Free Admission: Emergency Room Psychiatrist and author Dr. Paul Linde reads and signs from his book, Danger to Self. |