Beat poetry jack kerouac biography

(1922-1969)

Who Was Jack Kerouac?

Jack Kerouac's writing career began in the 1940s but didn't meet with commercial success until 1957 when his book On the Road was published.

The book became an American classic that defined the Beat Generation. Kerouac died on October 21, 1969, from an abdominal hemorrhage, at age 47.

Early Life

Kerouac was born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac on March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts.

A thriving mill town in the mid-19th century, Lowell had become, by the time of Kerouac's birth, a down-and-out burg where unemployment and heavy drinking prevailed.

What did jack kerouac write about

Kerouac's parents, Leo and Gabrielle, were immigrants from Quebec, Canada; Kerouac learned to speak French at home before he learned English at school. Leo owned his own print shop, Spotlight Print, in downtown Lowell, and Gabrielle, known to her children as Memere, was a homemaker.

Kerouac later described the family's home life: "My father comes home from his printing shop and