Biographical notes

Jack Kerouac



Jack Kerouac, baptized in the Catholic religion under the name of Jean Louis Kirouac, was born on March 12, 1922 at 9 Rupine Road in Lowell, a small industrial town and spinning center in northeastern Massachusetts. He is the third child of Léo-Alcide Kerouac and Gabrielle Lévesque. His older brother Francis Gérard, born in 1916 died in 1926, and his sister Caroline, born in 1918 died in 1964. Léo-Alcide Kerouac, baptized Joseph Alcide Léon Kirouack, who later changed his name to Kerouac, was born in 1889 in Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup on Canadian soil, while Gabrielle Lévesque, by the effect of chance, was also born in Quebec, in Saint-Pacôme, during the trip of her parents, who came from Nashua, New Hampshire, for the holiday season. The stay in the family lasted until February 1893 when the mother gave birth to two twin girls, one of whom died and the other, Gabrielle, was to become Jack's mother. The establishment of this branch of our family in the United States is due to Léo-Alcide, Jack's father.

Around 1890, Jean-Baptiste Kerouac (baptized Quirouac), Jack's paternal grandfather, and his wife, Clémentine Bernier, emigrated to the United States, which was then, for thousands of Quebecers, the only land that could provide them with work and money to support their families. It is said that half of the population of Quebec emigrated to the United States between 1850 and 1900. Jean-Baptiste left Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup to work as a carpenter in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Jack received his primary and secondary education at Lowell. In 1939, he enrolled at the Horace Mann School in New York in the university preparatory course; he was accepted at Columbia University for the year 1940-1941. But at the dawn of his second year at Columbia, in the fall of 1941, he abandoned his university studies; this decision marks the beginning of a new life. His wanderings on the roads of America will nourish his literary production and he will become one of the great authors of his generation.

Jack will marry three times. He will first marry Frankie Edith (Edie) Parker whom he will leave two months later. Next, it will be Joan Harvey. This second marriage will not last much longer than the first since six months later, they will leave each other. Joan is the mother of her only daughter, Janet Michelle (Jan), born in February 1952, she will follow in her father's footsteps and become a writer. Finally, in 1966, he will marry Stella Sampas, the sister of a childhood friend killed in Europe during the Second World War. Kerouac is included in the literary studies program of many colleges and universities around the world. He marked his generation and is recognized as one of the most important American authors of the 20th century. He has been the subject of several biographies and writings in both French and English.

He died on October 21, 1969 in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of 47. He is buried in Edson Cemetery in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Le grand Jack

A National Film Board docu-fiction by Herménégilde Chiasson

The poet, painter, playwright and director Herménégilde Chiasson, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick from 2003 to 2009, summed up the life of Jack Kerouac well in 1987 in an absolutely magnificent docu-drama he entitled Le grand Jack and in which he tried "to dissect the myth of the hero".

Jack's quotations, which Mr. Chiasson uses in his work, and which refer to the ancestral origins of the Kerouac family, are romanticized, straight out of Jack's very fertile imagination. However, they illustrate very well the state of knowledge that Jack Kerouac and all the members of the Kirouac family had before the Kirouac Family Association demonstrated beyond any doubt the non-existence of this nobility bond which was transmitted from generation to generation for over a hundred years. (See the Publications tab of this website to learn a little more about the book The Ancestor of the Kirouac families in New France, his wife and their sons summarizing this research on the Ancestor which lasted 35 years).



Partial timeline of the life of Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)

1922 Birth of Jean-Louis Kirouac, March 12 in Lowell, Massachusetts (United States). He is the youngest of the three children of Léo-Alcide      Kerouac whose father Jean-Baptiste Kerouac had left Saint-Hubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup for Nashua (NH) and of Gabrielle Lévesque, daughter of Louis Lévesque and Joséphine Jean of Saint-Pacome (Quebec).

1926 Death of his brother Gérard (born François Gerard Keroack). Jack is deeply marked by this disappearance.

1939Graduates from Lowell High School where he excels in running and football. His football success earned him a scholarship to the Horace Mann School in New York, then to Columbia University.

1939-40Preparatory studies for university at the Horace Mann School in New York.

1940-41While attending Columbia University, he fractures his leg; which put an end to his hopes of a professional career in football.

1942-43Jack is part of the United States Navy (US Navy) assigned to merchant marine vessels.

1943 Writes his first novel, The Sea is my Brother. It will first be published in its entirety by Penguin in 2011.

1944At Columbia University, Jack meets Lucien Carr, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg who will have a profound influence on him. His future is sealed. He lives, dreams and dabbles with them across America. He believes in his literary talent and devotes all his energies to writing.

1944 First marriage to Frankie Edith (Edie) Parker, marriage which will last only two months.

1945 Joint writing with William S. Burroughs of the book entitled: And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, published in the United States by Grove Press in 2008. A French version under the title And the hippopotamuses boiled alive in their swimming pools was published by Gallimard in 2012.

1945Writing of a short story whose original title is Orpheus Emerged, published in the United States in 2002 and in France by Denoël in 2006 under the title Orphée à jour.

1946 In the spring, his father, Léo-Alcide, dies of stomach cancer. He swears to his father to take care of his mother. For several years, especially before his literary talent was recognized, it was his mother who supported him.

1946Jack meets Neal Cassady, his evil genius, so to speak. Cassady, unstable, always on the move, exerts a profound influence on Jack who never ceases to admire her. The latter gives Jack the necessary boost to make him leave his typewriter, say goodbye to his mother and go on the road. Because of his lifestyle, Jack is considered the distant ancestor of the hippie movement.

1946-49Jack writes his first novel The Town and the City; translated into French under the title Avant la route, and published by Québec-Amérique in 1990. The original edition was published in English in 1950 by Hartcourt Brace. This is a largely autobiographical book.

1947-50First almost insane trips across the country with Neal Cassidy. First attempts to write On the Road. He invents a new form of writing: sketching, ie a spontaneous method of writing.

1950 First stay in Mexico with Burroughs. He writes under the influence of drugs.

1950Publication de The Town and the City.

1951 Jack marries Joan Harvesty whom he leaves six months later. During their marriage, the couple will live in Grosse-Pointe, Michigan.

1951In three weeks in New York, Jack writes On the Road on a continuous roll of teletype paper provided by Lucien Carr.

1951-1952Jack writes Visions of Cody, a book on Neal Cassady which will be partially published in 1972 by McGraw-Hill.

1951-1960 Writing of a novel entitled Pic which will eventually be published in 1971 by Grove Press in the United States. A French version will also appear in Québec-Amérique in 1987.

1952Jack écrit Doctor Sax : Faust Part Three.

1952 In February, birth of his daughter, Janet Michele. Jack will never officially admit this paternity. Several years later, during one of the only two meetings that Janet Michele (Jan) will have with her father, he will tell her that she can take his name to write.

1953 Reading and study of Buddhism, of which Jack becomes a follower. He writes The Subterraneans.

1953Writing by Maggie Cassidy.

1954-1957Rédaction de Mexico City Blues.

1955Second trip to Mexico. Jack writes his novel Sadness there but returns physically exhausted by drugs.

1956Jack spends a solitary summer as a ranger atop Desolation Peak in Washington state. He writes Visions of Gerard.

1956-1957Rédaction de Desolation Angels.

1957Rédaction de The Dharma Bums.

1957 Publication, by Viking Press, of the book On the Road (Sur la route, also published in French by Gallimard in 1960) which will be one of the bestselling books of the year 1957. Jack falls out with Neal Cassady because of all the details given by Jack on Neal in On the Road. He writes The Dharma Bums.

1957-1967 Writing of various texts which will eventually constitute a collection of short stories which will be published by Gray Fox Press under the title of Good Blonde & Others in 1993. A French version will follow in 1998 by Gallimard under the title of Vraie blonde et autres.

1958Publication by The Viking Press of The Dharma Bums (The celestial tramps, book also published in French by Gallimard in 1963).

1959 Publication, by Grove Press, of his book Doctor Sax (Docteur Sax, will be published in French by Gallimard in 1994), publication of the book Mexico City Blues also by Grove Press (published in French by Éditions Christian Bourgeois in 1995) and publication of book Maggie Cassidy, published by Avon (published in French by Québec-Amérique in 1984).

1960Jack writes and publishes Lonesome Traveler with McGraw-Hill (Le vagabond solitaire, published in French by Gallimard in 1969).

1960 Publication, by Avon, of Tristessa (published in French by Québec-Amérique in 1990).

1961 Writing of Big Sur.

1962Big Sur published by Farras, Strauss and Cudahy (Big Sur, published in French by Gallimard in 1980)

1963 Publication, by Farras, Strauss and Compagny, of Visions of Gerard (Visions de Gérard, published in French by Gallimard in 1972).

1964 Death in Orlando, Florida of Jack's sister, Caroline (Ti-Nin).

1965 Publication, by Coward McCann, of Desolation Angels (Les Anges vagabonds, also published in French by Gallimard in 1991).

1965June trip to Brittany in search of his roots. He writes Satori in Paris (Satori in Paris).

1966Third marriage. He marries Stella Sampas, the sister of a childhood friend who died in Europe during the Second World War. Jack returns to live in Lowell, Massachusetts.

1966 Publication, by Grove Press, of Satori in Paris (Satori in Paris, also published in French by Gallimard in 1993).

1967He is interviewed on Radio-Canada by Fernand Seguin on the television program Sel de la Semaine.

1967Jack and his friend, Youenn Gwernig plan to take a trip to Brittany.

1968Neal Cassidy dies in February.

1968 Writing and publication of Vanity of Duluoz by GP Putnam's Sons (Vanité de Duluoz, published in French by Éditions Christian Bourgeois in 1996).

1969 Year when Jack and his friend Youenn Gwernig were to go to Brittany, a trip that was never made.

1969 Death of Jack, October 21, in St Petersburg, Florida.

1973 Death of his mother, Gabrielle Lévesque-Kerouac (Mémère).

(Source for publication dates: Wikipedia)