Janet Michelle "Jan" Kerouac (February 16, 1952 – June 5, 1996) was an American writer and the only child of beat generation author Jack Kerouac and Joan Haverty Kerouac.

Early life and career

Janet Michelle Kerouac was born a few months after her parents separated. Jack Kerouac met his daughter for the first time when she was ten years old, when he took a blood test to prove or disprove his paternity. Jan only met him once more, when she visited him at his home in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. In 1964, Jan Kerouac was briefly in a girl group called The Whippets The group, which consisted of Kerouac, Charlotte Rosenthal, and

Bibbe Hansen Bibbe Hansen (born January 31, 1952) is an American performance artist, musician and actress. Family Hansen's parents were bohemian Jewish poet Audrey Ostlin Hansen and Fluxus artist Al Hansen, a participant in the Andy Warhol Factory. Her stepf ...

, released one single, "I Want to Talk to You," a song response to the song "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded on 17 October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment. With advance orders ...

." The B-side, "Go Go Go with Ringo," also reflected the Beatlemania of the time. The single did not chart or get much airplay, and the Whippets broke up. Jan Kerouac lived much of her early life in poverty, sometimes turning to prostitution to survive. She traveled widely, living in South America, Europe, and many different cities in the United States.

Lawsuit

Encouraged by Kerouac biographer Gerald Nicosia, she entered into a lawsuit in the 1990s that proposed the will of Jack's mother, Gabrielle Kerouac, was a forgery, in the hope winning could expand her legal rights to her father's works and physical property. Eventually a court ruled that the will was a forgery, although in practical terms this ruling changed nothing concerning control of the Kerouac estate.

Novels

Kerouac published three semi-autobiographical novels, ''Baby Driver: A Story About Myself'' in 1981, ''Trainsong'' in 1988 and posthumously published ''Parrot Fever'' in 2000.

Death

On June 5, 1996, Kerouac died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a day after her

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

was removed. She had suffered

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

five years earlier and was on dialysis.

Filmography

''The Beat Generation: An American Dream'' (1988) ''What Happened to Kerouac?'' (1986)

Bibliography

Books by Kerouac

* * * * * Written in 1992–1993, and published posthumously.

Books about Kerouac

References

External links

* “Jan Kerouac.” Public Radio International, 11 Sept. 2004, www.pri.org/stories/2004-09-11/jan-kerouac.
Jan Kerouac Obituary
* “THE LAST DAYS OF JAN KEROUAC: Gerald Nicosia Interviewed by Oliver Harris.” European Beat Studies Network, European Beat Studies Network/ Word Press, 5 Sept. 2017, ebsn.eu/scholarship/interviews/the-last-days-of-jan-kerouac-gerald-nicosia-interviewed-by-oliver-harris/. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerouac, Jan 1952 births 1996 deaths Writers from Albany, New York American women novelists Beat Generation writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) American prostitutes