Dylan, Bono, & Kerouac
This is from Bob Dylan’s memoir “Chronicles: Volume One” (2004). Thanks to Jim Cook for the tip. We know all these guys by one name: Dylan, Bono, Kerouac, . . . and Cook.
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“One night, Bono, the singer from U2, was over for dinner with some other friends. Spending time with Bono was like eating dinner on a train—feels like you’re moving, going somewhere. Bono’s got the soul of an ancient poet and you have to be careful around him. He can roar ’til the earth shakes. He’s also a closet philosopher. He brought a case of Guinness with him. We were talking about things that you talk about when you’re spending the winter with somebody—talked about Jack Kerouac. Bono knows Kerouac’s stuff pretty good. Kerouac, who celebrated American towns like Truckee, Fargo, Butte, and Madora—towns that most Americans never heard of. It seems funny that Bono would know more about Kerouac than most Americans. . . .”
There is another Irish fellow who was much influenced by Kerouac; Van Morrison. When he played at Tsongas Arena back in 2001 I recall he spent the day escorted by Peter Wolff to Kerouac haunts like the Worthen.
http://patrickmaginty.blogspot.com/2007/12/slim-gaillard-trio-laguna-orooney.html