Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the
Beat Generation of the 1950s and the
psychedelic and
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
movements of the 1960s.
He was prominently featured as himself in the "scroll" (first draft) version of
Jack Kerouac's novel ''
On the Road'', and served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in the 1957 version of that book. In many of Kerouac's later books, Cassady is represented by the character Cody Pomeray. Cassady also appeared in
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
's poems, and in several other works of literature by other writers.
Biography
Early years
Cassady was born to Maude Jean (Scheuer) and Neal Marshall Cassady in
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
. His mother died when he was 10, and he was raised by his
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
father in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Cassady spent much of his youth either living on the streets of
skid row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
, with his father, or in
reform school
A reform school was a penal institution, generally for teenagers mainly operating between 1830 and 1900.
In the United Kingdom and its colonies reformatories commonly called reform schools were set up from 1854 onwards for youngsters who wer ...
.
As a youth, Cassady was repeatedly involved in petty crime. He was arrested for car theft when he was 14, for shoplifting and car theft when he was 15, and for car theft and
fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...
stolen property when he was 16.
In 1941, the 15-year-old Cassady met
Justin W. Brierly, a prominent Denver educator. Brierly was well known as a mentor of promising young men and was impressed by Cassady's intelligence. Over the next few years, Brierly took an active role in Cassady's life. Brierly helped admit Cassady to
East High School where he taught Cassady as a student, encouraged and supervised his reading, and found employment for him. Cassady continued his criminal activities, however, and was repeatedly arrested from 1942 to 1944; on at least one of these occasions, he was released by law enforcement into Brierly's safekeeping. In June 1944, Cassady was arrested for
possession of stolen goods
Possession of stolen goods is a crime in which an individual has bought, been given, or acquired stolen goods.
In many jurisdictions, if an individual has accepted possession of goods (or property) and knew they were stolen, then the individua ...
and served 11 months of a one-year prison sentence. Brierly and he actively exchanged letters during this period, even through Cassady's intermittent incarcerations; this correspondence represents Cassady's earliest surviving letters. Brierly is also believed to have been responsible for Cassady's first homosexual experience.
Personal life
![Neal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Neal.png)
In October 1945, after being released from prison, Cassady married 16-year-old Lu Anne Henderson. In 1946, the couple traveled to New York City to visit their friend,
Hal Chase, another protégé of Brierly's. While visiting Chase at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Cassady met Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Although Cassady did not attend Columbia, he soon became friends with them and their acquaintances, some of whom later became members of the Beat Generation. While in New York, Cassady persuaded Kerouac to teach him to write fiction. Cassady's second wife, Carolyn, has stated, "Neal, having been raised in the slums of Denver amongst the world's lost men, determined to make more of himself, to become somebody, to be worthy and respected. His genius mind absorbed every book he could find, whether literature, philosophy, or science. Jack had a formal education, which Neal envied, but intellectually he was more than a match for Jack, and they enjoyed long discussions on every subject."
Carolyn Robinson met Cassady in 1947, while she was studying for her master's in theater arts at the University of Denver. Five weeks after Lu Anne's departure, Neal got an annulment from Lu Anne and married Carolyn, on April 1, 1948. Carolyn's book, ''
Off the Road
''Off the Road: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg'' is an autobiographical book by Carolyn Cassady. Originally published in 1990 as ''Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg'', it was republished by London's Bla ...
: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg'' (1990), details her marriage to Cassady and recalls him as "the archetype of the American Man".
Cassady's sexual relationship with Ginsberg lasted off and on for the next 20 years.
During this period, Cassady worked for the
Southern Pacific Railroad and kept in touch with his "Beat" acquaintances, even as they became increasingly different philosophically.
The couple eventually had three children and settled down in a
ranch house
Ranch (also known as American ranch, California ranch, rambler, or rancher) is a domestic architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch-style house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and wide open layout. ...
in
Monte Sereno, California, 50 miles south of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, where Kerouac and Ginsberg sometimes visited.
This home, built in 1954 with money from a settlement from Southern Pacific Railroad for a train-related accident, was demolished in August 1997.
In 1950, Cassady entered into a marriage with Diane Hansen, a young model who was pregnant with his child, Curtis Hansen.
Cassady traveled cross-country with both Kerouac and Ginsberg on multiple occasions, including the trips documented in Kerouac's ''On the Road''.
Role of drugs
Following an arrest in 1958 for offering to share a small amount of
marijuana with an
undercover
To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an ind ...
agent at a San Francisco
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
, Cassady served a two-year sentence at California's
San Quentin State Prison in
Marin County. After his release in June 1960, he struggled to meet family obligations, and Carolyn divorced him when his parole period expired in 1963. Carolyn stated that she was looking to relieve Cassady of the burden of supporting a family, but "this was a mistake and removed the last pillar of his self-esteem".
After the divorce, in 1963, Cassady shared an apartment with Allen Ginsberg and
Beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
poet
Charles Plymell
Charles Plymell (born April 26, 1935, in Holcomb, Kansas) is a poet, novelist, and small press publisher. Plymell has been published widely, collaborated with, and published many poets, writers, and artists, including principals of the Beat Ge ...
, at 1403 Gough Street, San Francisco.
Cassady first met author
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Kesey was born in ...
during the summer of 1962; he eventually became one of the
Merry Pranksters
The Merry Pranksters were comrades and followers of American author Ken Kesey in 1964.
Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters lived communally at Kesey's homes in California and Oregon, and are noted for the sociological significance of a lengthy roa ...
, a group that formed around Kesey in 1964, who were vocal proponents of the use of
psychedelic drugs
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
.
Travels and death
During 1964, Cassady served as the main driver of the bus named ''
Furthur'' on the iconic first half of the journey from San Francisco to New York, which was immortalized by
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
's book, ''
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe. The book is a popular example of the New Journalism literary style. Wolfe presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, ...
'' (1968). Cassady appears at length in a
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
about the Merry Pranksters and their cross-country trip, ''
Magic Trip
''Magic Trip'' is a 2011 documentary film directed by Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney, about Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters.
The documentary uses the 16 mm color footage shot by Kesey and the Merry Pranksters during their 1964 ...
'' (2011), directed by
Alex Gibney.
In January 1967, Cassady traveled to Mexico with fellow prankster George "Barely Visible" Walker and Cassady's longtime girlfriend Anne Murphy. In a beachside house just south of
Puerto Vallarta,
Jalisco, they were joined by Barbara Wilson and Walter Cox. All-night storytelling, speed drives in Walker's
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan is the name of two separate ranges of automobiles produced by Lotus Cars. The first series of cars was produced between 1962 and 1975 as a rear-wheel drive vehicle. The second series was produced between 1989 and 1995 as a front-wheel ...
, and the use of
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...
made for a classic Cassady performance — "like a trained bear," Carolyn Cassady once said. Cassady was beloved for his ability to inspire others to love life, yet at rare times he was known to express regret over his wild life, especially as it affected his family. At one point, Cassady took Cox, then 19, aside and told him: "
enty years of fast living — there's just not much left, and my kids are all screwed up. Don't do what I have done."
During the next year, Cassady's life became less stable, and the pace of his travels more frenetic. He left Mexico in May, traveling to San Francisco, Denver, New York City, and points in between. Cassady then returned to Mexico in September and October (stopping in
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
, on the way to visit his oldest daughter, who had just given birth to his first grandchild), visited Ken Kesey's
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
farm in December, and spent the
New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
with Carolyn at a friend's house near San Francisco. Finally, in late January 1968, Cassady returned to Mexico once again.
On February 3, 1968, Cassady attended a wedding party in
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Queré ...
,
Guanajuato, Mexico. After the party, he went walking along a railroad track to reach the next town, but passed out in the cold and rainy night wearing nothing but a T-shirt and jeans. In the morning, he was found in a
coma by the tracks, reportedly by Anton Black, later a professor at
El Paso Community College, who carried Cassady over his shoulders to the local post office building. Cassady was then transported to the closest hospital, where he died a few hours later on February 4, four days short of his 42nd birthday.
The exact cause of Cassady's death remains uncertain. Those who attended the wedding party confirm that he took an unknown quantity of
secobarbital
Secobarbital (as the sodium salt, originally marketed by Eli Lilly and Company for the treatment of insomnia, and subsequently by other companies as described below, under the brand name Seconal) is a short-acting barbiturate derivative drug that ...
, a powerful
barbiturate sold under the brand name
Seconal
Secobarbital (as the sodium salt, originally marketed by Eli Lilly and Company for the treatment of insomnia, and subsequently by other companies as described below, under the brand name Seconal) is a short-acting barbiturate derivative drug that ...
. The physician who performed the
autopsy wrote simply, "general congestion in all systems." When interviewed later, the physician stated that he was unable to give an accurate report because Cassady was a foreigner and there were drugs involved. "Exposure" is commonly cited as his cause of death, although his widow believes he may have died of
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 ...
.
Children
Cassady has five known children: Robert William Hyatt Jr. (1945), Cathleen Joanne Cassady (1948), Jami Cassady Ratto (1949), Curtis W. Hansen (1950), and John Allen Cassady (1951). Robert, son of Neal Cassady and Maxine Beam, is an artist working in Arvada, Colorado. In February 2017, he was featured in ''Westword'' magazine. Cathleen, known as Cathy, is the mother of the only grandchild Neal met. Cathy, Jami, and John keep a website in memory of their parents and parents' "beat" friends.
Curt, born from a bigamous marriage with Diana Hansen, died April 30, 2014, aged 63. He was one of the co-founders of radio station
WEBE
WEBE (107.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Westport, Connecticut, carrying an adult contemporary format known as "WEBE108". Owned by Connoisseur Media, the station serves both the Greater New Haven and Fairfield County areas. The ...
108, in
Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Writing style and influence
Cassady is credited with helping Kerouac break with his
Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist of the early 20th century.
Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels as well as many short stories, dramatic works, and novellas. He is known for mixing highly origin ...
-influenced sentimental style, as seen in ''
The Town and the City
''The Town and the City'' is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Harcourt Brace in 1950. This was the first major work published by Kerouac, who later became famous for his second novel '' On the Road'' (1957). Like all of Jack Kerouac's major ...
'' (1950). After reading Cassady's letters, Kerouac was inspired to write his story in Cassady's communication style: "...in a rush of mad ecstasy, without self-consciousness or mental hesitation".
This fluid writing style, reading more like a
stream of consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First L ...
or hypermanic rapid-fire conversation than written prose, is best demonstrated within Cassady's letters to family and friends. In a letter to Kerouac from 1953, Cassady begins with the following fervent sentence;
Well it's about time you wrote, I was fearing you farted out on top that mean mountain or slid under while pissing in Pismo, beach of flowers, food and foolishness, but I knew the fear was ill-founded for balancing it in my thoughts of you, much stronger and valid if you weren't dead, was a realization of the experiences you would be having down there, rail, home, and the most important, climate, by a remembrance of my own feelings and thoughts (former low, or more exactly, nostalgic and unreal; latter hi) as, for example, I too seemed to spend time looking out upper floor windows at sparse, especially night times, traffic in females—old or young.
''On the Road'' became a sensation. By capturing Cassady's voice, Kerouac discovered a unique style of his own that he called "spontaneous prose," a stream of consciousness prose form.
Cassady's own written work was never formally published in his lifetime, and he left behind only a half-written manuscript and a number of personal letters. Cassady admitted to Kerouac in a letter from 1948, "My prose has no individual style as such, but is rather an unspoken and still unexpressed groping toward the personal. There is something there that wants to come out; something of my own that must be said. Yet, perhaps, words are not the way for me."
Popular culture
In film
Archival footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stoc ...
* ''
Anthem to Beauty'' (1997).
* ''
Love Always, Carolyn — A film about Kerouac, Cassady and Me'' (2011), a documentary that features Cassady in archival segments, as well as interviews with Cassady's ex-wife Carolyn and his children.
* ''
Magic Trip
''Magic Trip'' is a 2011 documentary film directed by Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney, about Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters.
The documentary uses the 16 mm color footage shot by Kesey and the Merry Pranksters during their 1964 ...
'' (2011),
Alex Gibney's
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
using the footage shot by Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters during their cross-country bus trip in the ''
Furthur'' bus; the hyperkinetic Cassady is frequently seen driving the bus, jabbering, and sitting next to a sign that boasts, "Neal gets things done."
* ''The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of
Bob Weir'' (2015).
Dramatizations
* The film ''
Who'll Stop the Rain
''Who'll Stop the Rain'' is a 1978 American crime film directed by Karel Reisz and starring Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, Michael Moriarty, and Anthony Zerbe. It was released by United Artists and produced by Herb Jaffe and Gabriel Katzka with Sh ...
'' (1978) is a psychological drama released by United Artists. The film is based on
Robert Stone's novel ''
Dog Soldiers'' (1974), and stars
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
as Ray Hicks. Stone based the character of Hicks on Beat writer Neal Cassady. Stone became acquainted with Cassady through novelist Ken Kesey, a classmate of Stone in graduate school at Stanford University. Hicks' death scene on the railroad tracks at the film's conclusion was directly based on Cassady's death along a railroad track outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in 1968.
* ''
Heart Beat'' (1980), which portrays Neal Cassady's friendship with Jack Kerouac, stars
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...
as Cassady and
John Heard as Kerouac. The film was based on the memoir of the same name by Carolyn Cassady (played by
Sissy Spacek
Mary Elizabeth Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four Britis ...
). Talk show host
Steve Allen
Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
, who was a big supporter of ''On The Road'', appears briefly as himself. Released immediately after Warner Bros. acquired
Orion Pictures, the film was given a limited release due to studio politics and a perceived lack of public interest. The film quickly fell from view.
* ''What Happened to Kerouac'' (1986).
* ''
The Last Time I Committed Suicide
''The Last Time I Committed Suicide'' is a 1997 American drama film directed by Stephen T. Kay. Based on a 1950 letter written by Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac, it stars Thomas Jane as Cassady. The cast also includes Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, ...
'' (1997), with
Thomas Jane
Thomas Jane (born Thomas Elliott III; February 22, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in the films Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987), ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), '' Deep Blue Sea'' (1999), '' The Punisher'' (2004), '' The Mist'' ( ...
as Cassady, is based on the "Joan Anderson letter" written by Cassady to Jack Kerouac in December 1950. Until 2014, much of this letter was thought to have been lost, though an excerpt had been published in a 1964 edition of John Bryan's magazine ''Notes from Underground''.
* A short film ''
Luz Del Mundo'' (2007) deals with Cassady's friendship and adventures with Jack Kerouac. Cassady is played by
Austin Nichols, and Kerouac is played by
Will Estes
William Estes (; born October 21, 1978) is an American actor known for his role on CBS police drama '' Blue Bloods'' as Jameson "Jamie" Reagan, a New York City Police Department officer and the youngest son of the police commissioner, played by ...
.
* In the film ''
Across the Universe'' (2007), the character Dr. Robert, played by
Bono, is said to have been inspired by Neal Cassady.
* ''Neal Cassady'' (2007), a biographical film focused mostly on the Merry Prankster years and stars
Tate Donovan
Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in '' The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...
as Neal,
Amy Ryan
Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony Award nominee.
Ryan began her pr ...
as Carolyn Cassady,
Chris Bauer as Kesey, and
Glenn Fitzgerald
Glenn Fitzgerald (born December 21, 1971) is an American actor of stage, film, and television.
Career
His film roles have included Homicide Detective Anderson in Kathryn Bigelow's ''Detroit''; Lonnie, the son of Alan Alda and Lily Tomlin's ch ...
as Kerouac;
Noah Buschel
Noah Buschel (born 1978) is an American film director and screenwriter.
Early life
Buschel was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
Career
Buschel's first film, ''Bringing Rain'', p ...
wrote and directed the film, which deals primarily with how Neal became trapped by his fictional alter-ego, Dean Moriarty. The Cassady family criticized this film as highly inaccurate.
* ''
Howl
Howl most often refers to:
*Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species
*Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg
Howl may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film
* ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...
'' (2010),
Jon Prescott
Jon Prescott (born August 10, 1981) is an American actor.
Early life
He was born in Mountain View, California, but raised near Portland, Oregon. Prescott has two brothers, and a sister. He attended Emerson College in Boston. After college h ...
, chronicles
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
's creation of the poem "
Howl
Howl most often refers to:
*Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species
*Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg
Howl may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film
* ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...
" and the obscenity trial surrounding its publication;
Jon Prescott
Jon Prescott (born August 10, 1981) is an American actor.
Early life
He was born in Mountain View, California, but raised near Portland, Oregon. Prescott has two brothers, and a sister. He attended Emerson College in Boston. After college h ...
portrays Cassady.
* In ''
On the Road'' (2012), the dramatic adaptation of the book, Neal Cassady/Dean Moriarty is portrayed by
Garrett Hedlund
Garrett John Hedlund (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor. His films include ''Troy'' (2004), '' Friday Night Lights'' (2004), '' Four Brothers'' (2005), ''Eragon'' (2006), ''Death Sentence'' (2007), '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Country ...
.
* In ''
Big Sur'' (2013),
Josh Lucas
Joshua Lucas Easy Dent Maurer (born June 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in various films, including '' American Psycho'' (2000), '' You Can Count on Me'' (2000), '' The Deep End'' (2001), '' A Beautiful Mind'' (2 ...
portrays Cassady.
In literature
*
David Amram
David Werner Amram III (born November 17, 1930) is an American composer, arranger, and conductor of orchestral, chamber, and choral works, many with jazz flavorings. 's ''OFFBEAT: Collaborating with Kerouac'' (2002)
*
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...
's ''
Notes of a Dirty Old Man'' (1969) as "Kerouac's boy Neal C."
*
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
:
** "The Green Automobile" (1953) as "my old companion"
** "
Howl
Howl most often refers to:
*Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species
*Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg
Howl may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film
* ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...
" (1956) as "N.C., secret hero of these poems"
** "Many Loves" (1956)
** "On Neal's Ashes" (1968)
** "The Fall of America" (1968)
** "Elegies for Neal Cassady" (1968)
*
John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes (March 12, 1926, Holyoke, Massachusetts – March 30, 1988, Middletown, Connecticut) was an American author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel '' Go''. Considered the first "Beat" novel, ''Go'' depicted eve ...
:
** ''
Go'' (1952) as "Hart Kennedy"
** ''
The Horn'' (1958) as "the driver"
*
Jack Kerouac:
** ''
On the Road'' (1957) as "Dean Moriarty". Cassady was the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Kerouac's ''
On the Road'', and the character "Cody Pomeray" in many of Kerouac's other novels. In the surviving first draft of ''On the Road'', which Kerouac typed on a 120-foot roll of paper specially constructed for that purpose, the story's protagonist's name remains "Neal Cassady". However, in Kerouac's final edition of ''On The Road'', Cassady's character is known as "Dean Moriarty". In ''On the Road'', the narrator, Sal Paradise (representing Jack Kerouac) states, "He was simply a youth tremendously excited with life, and though he was a con-man, he was only conning because he wanted so much to live and to get involved with people who would otherwise pay no attention to him ... Somewhere along the line, I knew there'd be girls, visions, everything; somewhere along the line, the pearl would be handed to me."
** ''
The Subterraneans
''The Subterraneans'' is a 1958 novella by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. It is a semi-fictional account of his short romance with Alene Lee (1931–1991), an African-American woman, in Greenwich Village, New York. It was the first wor ...
'' (1958) as "Leroy"
** ''
The Dharma Bums
''The Dharma Bums'' is a 1958 novel by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac. The basis for the novel's semi-fictional accounts are events occurring years after the events of ''On the Road''. The main characters are the narrator Ray Smith, based on ...
'' (1958) as "Cody"
** ''
Book of Dreams'' (1960) as "Cody Pomeray"
** ''
Visions of Cody
''Visions of Cody'' is an experimental novel by Jack Kerouac. It was written in 1951–1952, and though not published in its entirety until 1972, it had by then achieved an underground reputation. Since its first printing, ''Visions of Cody'' has ...
'' (1960; published 1973) as "Cody Pomeray"
** ''
Big Sur'' (1962) as "Cody Pomeray"
** ''
Desolation Angels (novel)
''Desolation Angels'' is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, which makes up part of his Duluoz Legend. It was published in 1965, but was written years earlier, around the time ''On the Road'' was in the ...
'' (1965) as "Cody Pomeray"
*
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Kesey was born in ...
:
** "Over the Border" (1973), as "Houlihan"
** Kesey also wrote a fictional account of Cassady's death in the
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
"The Day After Superman Died" (1979, referring to Cassady as "Houlihan"), wherein Cassady is portrayed as mumbling about the number of
railroad ties
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian English, Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the Track (rail transport), rails in railroad tracks. Generally la ...
he had counted on the line (64,928) as his last words before dying. It was published as a part of Kesey's collection ''
Demon Box'' (1986).
** One of the interviewees in the film ''
Magic Trip
''Magic Trip'' is a 2011 documentary film directed by Alison Ellwood and Alex Gibney, about Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters.
The documentary uses the 16 mm color footage shot by Kesey and the Merry Pranksters during their 1964 ...
'' (2011) states that Cassady was the inspiration for the main character, Randle Patrick McMurphy, of
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Kesey was born in ...
's novel ''
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1962).
*
Phil Lesh's ''Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead'' (2005)
*
Nick Mamatas
Nick Mamatas ( el, Νίκος Μαμματάς) (born February 20, 1972) is an American horror, science fiction and fantasy author and editor for Haikasoru's line of translated Japanese science fiction novels for Viz Media. His fiction has been ...
' ''
Move Under Ground
''Move Under Ground'' is a horror novel mashup by American writer Nick Mamatas, which combines the Beat style of Jack Kerouac with the cosmic horror of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It is available as a free download via a Creative Commons l ...
'' (2004)
*
Chuck Rosenthal's ''Jack Kerouac's Avatar Angel: His Last Novel'' (2001), as "Cody Pomeray."
*
Robert Stone:
** "Porque No Tiene, Porque Le Falta" (1969), as "Willie Wings"
** ''
Dog Soldiers'' (1974), as "Ray Hicks"
** ''
Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties'' (2007)
* In
Hunter S. Thompson's book ''
Hell's Angels'' (1966), Cassady is described as, "the worldly inspiration for the protagonist of two recent novels", drunkenly yelling at police during the famed
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...
parties at Ken Kesey's residence in
La Honda, California
La Honda ( Spanish for "The Sling") is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 979 at the 2020 census. It is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains between the Santa Clara Valley a ...
. Although Cassady's name was removed from the book at the insistence of Thompson's publisher, the description is clearly a reference to the character based on Cassady in Jack Kerouac's works, ''On the Road'' and ''
Visions of Cody
''Visions of Cody'' is an experimental novel by Jack Kerouac. It was written in 1951–1952, and though not published in its entirety until 1972, it had by then achieved an underground reputation. Since its first printing, ''Visions of Cody'' has ...
'' (1951–1952).
*
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
also chronicled Cassady's drunken yelling at police during Hells Angels parties in ''
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe. The book is a popular example of the New Journalism literary style. Wolfe presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, ...
'' (1968).
In music
*
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
recorded "Jack & Neal /California, Here I Come," on his 1977 album ''
Foreign Affairs''.
* A
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
-based folk duo,
Aztec Two Step, in their 1972 debut album memorialized Cassady in the song "The Persecution & Restoration of Dean Moriarty (On The Road)".
*
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyb ...
loosely based their song "Styrofoam Plates" from ''
The Photo Album'' (2001) on the events of Cassady's life depicted in ''On the Road''.
* The
Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...
guitarist and songwriter
Patrick Simmons
Patrick Simmons (born October 19, 1948) is an American musician best known as a founding member of the rock band The Doobie Brothers. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the only consistent member of the band throughout their tenure. Simm ...
refers to Cassady in his song "
Neal's Fandango" as his incentive for taking to the road.
* Cassady lived briefly with
The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...
and is immortalized in "The Other One" section of their song "
That's It For The Other One", as the bus driver "Cowboy Neal".
* A second Grateful Dead song, "Cassidy" by
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow (October 3, 1947February 7, 2018) was an American poet, essayist, cattle rancher, and cyberlibertarian political activist who had been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He was also a lyricist for th ...
, might seem to be a misspelling of Cassady's name. However, in fact, the song primarily celebrates the 1970 birth of baby girl Cassidy Law into the Grateful Dead family, though the lyrics also include references to Neal Cassady himself.
*
Bocephus King sings a song called "Cowboy Neal".
* The
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
band
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
released a song named "
Neal and Jack and Me" on their album ''
Beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
'' (1982).
*
Morrissey's album ''
World Peace Is None of Your Business'' (2014) features a track called "Neal Cassady Drops Dead".
* The Franco-American band
Moriarty is named after the fictional character Dean Moriarty that Kerouac created from Neal Cassady.
* Jazz guitarist John Scofield wrote a song called "Cassidae" , released on his album ''Who's who?'' (1979).
* Singer-songwriter
Eric Taylor's song "Dean Moriarty" (1995) describes a character patterned after Neal Cassady.
*
Fatboy Slim produced a track, "Neal Cassady Starts Here", that appeared as a
B-side to the singles "Santa Cruz" and "
Everybody Needs A 303
Everybody may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Everybody'' (Chris Janson album) or the title song, 2017
* ''Everybody'' (Gods Child album), 1994
* ''Everybody'' (Hear'Say album), 2001
* ''Everybody'' (Ingrid Michaelson album) or the title song, 2009
* ...
" (1996).
* The Beat-inspired
folk revival
The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...
band
Washington Squares
The Washington Squares are a neo-beatnik folk revival music group. Modeled after early 1960s groups like The Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary, the group was named after New York City's Washington Square Park, emblematic of Greenwich Village. ...
released a song named "Neal Cassady" on their album ''Fair and Square'' (1989).
Published works
* "The Joan Anderson Letter", written by Cassady to Jack Kerouac (December 1950): it was, until 2014, thought to have been lost, though an excerpt had been published in a 1964 edition of John Bryan's magazine ''Notes from Underground''. Associated Press reported in November 24, 2014, that the entire letter had been found. The 18-page letter, which is said to have substantially inspired Kerouac's subsequent writing style, was to be auctioned on December 17, 2014, but a legal dispute over ownership prevented the auction from proceeding. The original letter was auctioned by Heritage Auctions as Lot 45378 on March 8, 2017.
* "
Pull My Daisy" (1951, poetry) written with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg
* "Genesis West: Volume Seven" (1965, magazine article)
* "''First Night of the Tapes''" with Jack Kerouac. "
Transatlantic Review
Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to:
Film
* Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950
* Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s
* ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...
" December 1969
* ''The First Third'' (1971, autobiographical novel), published three years after Cassady's death
* ''As Ever: The Collected Correspondence of Allen Ginsberg & Neal Cassady''. Berkeley, CA: Creative Arts Book Company, 1977.
* ''Grace Beats Karma: Letters from Prison'' (collection of poetry and letters). New York, NY:
Blast Books, 1993.
* ''Neal Cassady: Collected Letters, 1944–1967'' (2004, letters)
Published biographies
* ''The Holy Goof: A Biography of Neal Cassady'', by William Plummer (1981)
* ''Neal Cassady, Volume One, 1926–1940'', by Tom Christopher (1995)
* ''Neal Cassady, Volume Two, 1941–1946'', by Tom Christopher (1998)
* ''Neal Cassady: The Fast Life of a Beat Hero'', by David Sandison & Graham Vickers (2006)
* ''
Off the Road
''Off the Road: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg'' is an autobiographical book by Carolyn Cassady. Originally published in 1990 as ''Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg'', it was republished by London's Bla ...
: Twenty Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg'', by
Carolyn Cassady
Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady (April 28, 1923 – September 20, 2013) was an American writer and associated with the Beat Generation through her marriage to Neal Cassady and her friendships with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other pro ...
.
Black Spring Press
Black Spring Press is an independent English publishing house founded in the early 1980s.
The first Black Spring publication was a reprint of Anais Nin's ''D.H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study'', which on its first publication in 1932 had been ...
(1990).
Literary studies
*
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
* .
*
Further reading
Archival resources
Allen Ginsberg film and video archive, 1983–1996(154 videotapes) are housed at the
Stanford University Libraries
Allen Ginsberg papers, 1937–1994(circa 1000 linear feet) are housed at the
Stanford University Libraries
* Allen Ginsberg papers, 1944–1991 (10 linear feet) are housed at the
Columbia University Library
Columbia University Libraries is the library system of Columbia University and one of the largest academic library systems in North America. With 15.0 million volumes and over 160,000 journals and serials, as well as extensive electronic resources ...
* Jack Kerouac Papers, 1920–1977 (bulk 1935–1969) (22.5 linear feet) are housed at the
New York Public Library
Neal Cassady Collection, 1947–1965(.83 linear feet) are housed at the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
Finding aid to Beat poets and poetry collection at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
External links
Neal Cassady Official site of Neal Cassady's estate, with stories and photos contributed by the family; Carolyn Cassady, Cathy Cassady Sylvia, Jami Cassady Ratto and John Allen CassadyPhotos, Neal Cassady Sr. GravesiteDenver Colorado, Neal Cassady, and the Beat Generationat Literary Kicks
Neal Cassadyat Literary Kicks
Cassady Pagesat Art and Leisure
Neal Cassadyat rotten.com
Neal Cassadyat IntrepidTrips.com
Denver Beat Photo Tour, Cassady Haunts and Homes, MoreA gallery of Neal Cassady and related book coversVictoria Mixon's Interviews with Carolyn CassadyBono Plays Doctor in 'Across the Universe'Neal Cassady: The Denver Years
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassady, Neal
1926 births
1968 deaths
American expatriates in Mexico
Barbiturates-related deaths
Beat Generation writers
Bisexual men
Bisexual writers
American LGBT writers
LGBT people from Utah
People from Monte Sereno, California
Writers from Denver
Writers from Salt Lake City
Muses
Bigamists
Drug-related deaths in Mexico
20th-century LGBT people