I am big on The Beats. They all seemed to have a very bisexual way of experiencing life. Allen Ginsberg was head over heels in love with Neal Cassady, & when Allen Ginsberg gave in to the love that was his true self, he was able to compose his greatest writings.
Neal Leon Cassady, Jr., was born on the road on this day, in 1928, in Salt Lake City, while his parents were traveling from Iowa to LA. He went with his father when the parents split up & he grew up in a masculine world of poverty, alcoholism, & despair. Cassady was a good reader with an excellent memory, & was eager to be liked by authority figure. He did well in school & pushed himself to be a good athlete, playing football & running track. While he was impressing teachers & coaches at school, he was dabbling petty crime, eventually becoming an inept car thief. He had been arrested 6 times by the age of 21. Cassady frequently ran away from home & at the age of 15 he traded in on his good looks for cash, working as a prostitute.
In 1946, Cassady moved, with his new 16 year old wife- LuAnn Henderson, to NYC. He fell into with a group of young men including Jack Kerouac & Allen Ginsberg. Both men took an interest in Cassady, & he & Ginsberg became lovers, though Cassady denied being homosexual & only had sex with men for money or some other consideration. He continued to have sex with men for the next 20 years. Ginsberg was a teacher to Cassady & opened the way into the intellectual crowd he aspired to.
In 1948 Cassady annulled his first marriage & married Carolyn Robinson, who was pregnant with his child. He took a job with the Southern Pacific Railroad. His attempt to settle down into a more conventional lifestyle was not very successful. Cassady began to take road trips, often with Kerouac, often lasting for months at a time. In 1950, Cassady married Diane Hansen, who was pregnant, but he was not divorced from Carolyn & he within a few months abandoned Diane & returned to Carolyn & his job & new child.
Cassady began to feel his life spinning out of control. He wrote a long, confessional letter to Kerouac which changed the way Kerouac viewed writing. Cassady wrote in an extemporaneous, unedited style that read like a breathless rush to get the words on to paper. Kerouac was inspired by the method. Cassady called it spontaneous prose, & he used it for the rest of his writing career.
In the 1950s, Cassady's life grew more erratic. He stopped attempting to hide his affairs from his wife & yet he managed to keep his job & support their 3 kids. In 1955, spinning out of control, he moved to San Francisco with another woman. In 1958 was arrested on drug charges & spent 2 years in San Quentin.
In the early 1960s, Cassady met Oregon’s own Ken Kesey & they became friends, sharing an interest in sports, drugs,& literature. Cassady joined Kesey's Merry Pranksters on their many cross-country bus trips. In 1963, divorced from Carolyn, but continued to see her & their children, until Carolyn asked him to stop in 1965. In January 1968 he went to Mexico to make an avant-garde film. At a cast party he took a fatal mixture of booze & downers. He was found unconscious the next morning on nearby railroad tracks & died a few hours later.
Cassady was the inspiration for the characters on books by Ginsberg, Kesey,Kerouac, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski & Robert Stone . He continues to be an influence in poetry & music. He has been portrayed on film by Nick Nolte (twice), Thomas Jane & Tate Donovan. Cassady & Ginsberg remained lovers off & on for more than 20 years. He is not a Gay Icon, the cool straight boys claim him, but he knew what love with another man was like.
If you find his era interesting, try Off the Road: 20 Years with Cassady, Kerouac, & Ginsberg by Carolyn Cassady. For his own writing you should look at Grace Beats Karma, published posthumously.
Neal Leon Cassady, Jr., was born on the road on this day, in 1928, in Salt Lake City, while his parents were traveling from Iowa to LA. He went with his father when the parents split up & he grew up in a masculine world of poverty, alcoholism, & despair. Cassady was a good reader with an excellent memory, & was eager to be liked by authority figure. He did well in school & pushed himself to be a good athlete, playing football & running track. While he was impressing teachers & coaches at school, he was dabbling petty crime, eventually becoming an inept car thief. He had been arrested 6 times by the age of 21. Cassady frequently ran away from home & at the age of 15 he traded in on his good looks for cash, working as a prostitute.
In 1946, Cassady moved, with his new 16 year old wife- LuAnn Henderson, to NYC. He fell into with a group of young men including Jack Kerouac & Allen Ginsberg. Both men took an interest in Cassady, & he & Ginsberg became lovers, though Cassady denied being homosexual & only had sex with men for money or some other consideration. He continued to have sex with men for the next 20 years. Ginsberg was a teacher to Cassady & opened the way into the intellectual crowd he aspired to.
In 1948 Cassady annulled his first marriage & married Carolyn Robinson, who was pregnant with his child. He took a job with the Southern Pacific Railroad. His attempt to settle down into a more conventional lifestyle was not very successful. Cassady began to take road trips, often with Kerouac, often lasting for months at a time. In 1950, Cassady married Diane Hansen, who was pregnant, but he was not divorced from Carolyn & he within a few months abandoned Diane & returned to Carolyn & his job & new child.
Cassady began to feel his life spinning out of control. He wrote a long, confessional letter to Kerouac which changed the way Kerouac viewed writing. Cassady wrote in an extemporaneous, unedited style that read like a breathless rush to get the words on to paper. Kerouac was inspired by the method. Cassady called it spontaneous prose, & he used it for the rest of his writing career.
In the 1950s, Cassady's life grew more erratic. He stopped attempting to hide his affairs from his wife & yet he managed to keep his job & support their 3 kids. In 1955, spinning out of control, he moved to San Francisco with another woman. In 1958 was arrested on drug charges & spent 2 years in San Quentin.
In the early 1960s, Cassady met Oregon’s own Ken Kesey & they became friends, sharing an interest in sports, drugs,& literature. Cassady joined Kesey's Merry Pranksters on their many cross-country bus trips. In 1963, divorced from Carolyn, but continued to see her & their children, until Carolyn asked him to stop in 1965. In January 1968 he went to Mexico to make an avant-garde film. At a cast party he took a fatal mixture of booze & downers. He was found unconscious the next morning on nearby railroad tracks & died a few hours later.
Cassady was the inspiration for the characters on books by Ginsberg, Kesey,Kerouac, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Charles Bukowski & Robert Stone . He continues to be an influence in poetry & music. He has been portrayed on film by Nick Nolte (twice), Thomas Jane & Tate Donovan. Cassady & Ginsberg remained lovers off & on for more than 20 years. He is not a Gay Icon, the cool straight boys claim him, but he knew what love with another man was like.
If you find his era interesting, try Off the Road: 20 Years with Cassady, Kerouac, & Ginsberg by Carolyn Cassady. For his own writing you should look at Grace Beats Karma, published posthumously.
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