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Kerouac Park tour group; web photo courtesy of marieharris.com Kerouac birthplace tour group; web photo courtesy of richardhowe.com JACK KEROUAC’S LOWELL TOUR SERIES KICKS OFF ON MAY 4 Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! experts on great American writer Jack Kerouac’s youth in Lowell and his Lowell novels will lead a monthly series…
Read More »F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” has been the subject of six movies, the first being a silent movie in 1926, a year after the novel appeared. The newest version, with Leonardo DeCaprio, will be released next month. “Gatsby” is often ranked as the best American novel. “On the Road”…
Read More »Jim Sampas grew up on Wilder Street in the Highlands. His aunt Stella married Jack Kerouac in the 1960s. These days, Jim is a producer of music recordings and movies, the latest project being a feature film based on Kerouac’s 1962 novel “Big Sur.” The movie premiered at the Sundance…
Read More »A Christmas Eve memory in this excerpt from the 1957 essay “Not Long Ago Joy Abounded at Christmas” by Jack Kerouac: “. . . Christmas was observed all-out in my Catholic French-Canadian environment in the 1930s much as it is today in Mexico. . . .When we were old enough it was…
Read More »The UMass Lowell Libraries will host a free five-part reading and discussion series focusing on three of Jack Kerouac’s Lowell-centric novels: “The Town and the City,” “Visions of Gerard” and “Maggie Cassidy.” The series, which begins Jan. 29, will feature UMass Lowell English Prof. Todd Tietchen leading discussions of each…
Read More »Following is one writer’s highlights in cultural experiences in Lowell and the Merrimack Valley this past year. These are events I attended, so this list is not an attempt to rate the best in the arts and culture for 2012. That’s for another post. Send in your favorite and unforgettable moments,…
Read More »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. . “One night, Bono, the singer from U2, was over for dinner with some other friends. Spending…
Read More »The world premiere of Jack Kerouac’s play “Beat Generation” made news coast to coast and around the world this week. Among the media outlets that published articles and reviews or broadcast reports were the Associated Press, Rolling Stone, WBUR and WGBH radio in Boston, the Sun, Howl in Lowell and…
Read More »The world premiere of Jack Kerouac’s only full-length play, “Beat Generation,” drew a standing ovation from the opening night crowd last night at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. The production is a language fest with all the mundane and sublime elements that are expected in Kerouac’s writing. The play jumped off the…
Read More »The world premiere of Jack Kerouac’s only full-length play, “Beat Generation,” is set for next Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in partnership with UMass Lowell. The media buzz is building around this major event. The Sun, Eagle Tribune, Globe, Associated Press/New York City, WCAP-AM radio, WBUR-FM radio, BBC radio,…
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