Jack Kerouac
Mary Fronczak
Mr. Thayer
English 12, Period 9
April 23, 2013
Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac, later known as Jack Kerouac, was born on March 12, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was born to his mother and father, Gabrielle Levesque and Leo Kerouac. Jack Kerouac grew up with his three older siblings. One brother was Gerard who, at the age of nine, passed away from rheumatic fever (biography.com). Growing up, Kerouac loved spending his time on sports and reading. He ended up being the star running back of the Lowell High School football team. He hoped that with his football skills, he could acquire a college scholarship and help his family out of poverty as a result of his father’s alcoholism (biography.com). In 1939, Kerouac graduated from high school and received a football scholarship to Columbia University. His calling in football didn’t last very long though because, in his freshman year of college, he broke his leg and his coach refused to let him play, even after his leg was healed (biography.com). Even though Kerouac had an open schedule, he struggled in his classes. He liked to study what he wanted to learn, and got easily upset with the prearranged classes. He ended up skipping many classes to read about several modern writers like Celine, Dostoevsky, and Thomas Wolfe. He ended up eventually dropping out of Columbia University (lib.unc.edu). Soon, Kerouac joined the military in World War II in 1943. After only ten days, he was honorably discharged for “strong schizoid trends”, as his medical records had stated (biography.com). After being released from the military, Kerouac went back to New York City and befriended a group of soon to be men that would, in next to no time, classify a literary movement. He met Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. These men are ultimately going to be the leaders of the Beat Generation of writers (biography.com). There were many other people of the Beat Generation, also. For example, Neal
Mr. Thayer
English 12, Period 9
April 23, 2013
Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac, later known as Jack Kerouac, was born on March 12, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was born to his mother and father, Gabrielle Levesque and Leo Kerouac. Jack Kerouac grew up with his three older siblings. One brother was Gerard who, at the age of nine, passed away from rheumatic fever (biography.com). Growing up, Kerouac loved spending his time on sports and reading. He ended up being the star running back of the Lowell High School football team. He hoped that with his football skills, he could acquire a college scholarship and help his family out of poverty as a result of his father’s alcoholism (biography.com). In 1939, Kerouac graduated from high school and received a football scholarship to Columbia University. His calling in football didn’t last very long though because, in his freshman year of college, he broke his leg and his coach refused to let him play, even after his leg was healed (biography.com). Even though Kerouac had an open schedule, he struggled in his classes. He liked to study what he wanted to learn, and got easily upset with the prearranged classes. He ended up skipping many classes to read about several modern writers like Celine, Dostoevsky, and Thomas Wolfe. He ended up eventually dropping out of Columbia University (lib.unc.edu). Soon, Kerouac joined the military in World War II in 1943. After only ten days, he was honorably discharged for “strong schizoid trends”, as his medical records had stated (biography.com). After being released from the military, Kerouac went back to New York City and befriended a group of soon to be men that would, in next to no time, classify a literary movement. He met Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. These men are ultimately going to be the leaders of the Beat Generation of writers (biography.com). There were many other people of the Beat Generation, also. For example, Neal
Cited: biography.com. 24 April 2013 . famousauthors.org. 25 April 2013 . lib.unc.edu. 25 April 2013 . archives.waiting-forthe-sun.net 25 April 2013 wikipedia.org 26 April 2013 online-literature.com 2 May 2013