''Moody Street Irregulars'' (subtitled ''A Jack Kerouac Newsletter'') was an American publication dedicated to the history and the cultural influences of
Jack Kerouac and the
Beat Generation. Edited and published by Joy Walsh, it featured articles, memoirs, reviews and poetry. Published from
Clarence Center, New York, it had a run of 28 issues from Winter 1978 to 1992. Some issues were edited by Walsh with
Michael Basinski and Ana Pine.
The magazine's approach is indicated by the contents of issue number 9 (1981), a special ''
Vanity of Duluoz
''Vanity of Duluoz: An Adventurous Education, 1935–46'' is a 1968 semi-autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac. The book describes the adventures of Kerouac's alter ego, Jack Duluoz, covering the period of his life between 1935 and 1946. The boo ...
'' issue including essays and articles by Gregory Stephenson,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, plus an interview with
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
by Jennie Skerl.
Issue number 11 (Spring/Summer 1982) was a special "French Connection" issue, featuring articles and essays about Kerouac, his French-Canadian ancestry and his popularity in Quebec.
Issue number 15, published in 1985, was a special "Music Issue":
*“Missing the Beat” by Joel Scherzer
*“Jack and the Beatstalkers” by Warren Peace
*“Kerouac and the Big Beat” by Joel Scherzer
*"
Mark Murphy’s Bop for Kerouac" by John Jablonski
*“Through a Swinging Looking Glass or Steps to Discovering Jack Kerouac” by Con Holland-Skinner
*Poems: “To Kerouac” by Tony Quagliano, “
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...
” by Michael F. Hopkins, “Bird in Paradise” by Steve Dalashinsky, “Jazz for Jack” by Tom Clark, “Aalborg” by Finn Slumstrup, “Jack Kerouac” by Dann Belanger
*“The Golden Juke Box” by Kevin Ring
*“
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
and Kerouac” by Alex Albright
*Book reviews, including “Mysteries of
Magritte” by Harold Norse, “Jack Kerouac” by
Tom Clark, “All the News” by Mark Pawlak
*“Jazz and the Modern Symphony and the News Music”, two articles by Jack Kerouac and Tom Livornese
Contributors
One of the writers was Kevin Ring who edited and published a UK magazine, ''
Beat Scene'', which also probed and surveyed Beat culture. Ring's publication was launched in Coventry, England in 1988. Dave Moore, of Bristol, UK was also a regular contributor to ''Moody Street Irregulars,'' and in January 1984 launched his own magazine, ''The Kerouac Connection,'' which ran for 30 issues.
Another contributor to ''Moody Street Irregulars'' was illustrator
Steve Fiorilla. who drew both covers and interior art.
Index
In 1990, Textile Bridge Press published ''Index to Moody Street Irregulars: A Jack Kerouac Newsletter'' (Esprit Critique Series No 4) by Michael Basinski.
The title of the publication derives from the
Baker Street Irregulars
The Baker Street Irregulars are fictional characters who appear in three Sherlock Holmes stories, specifically two novels and one short story, by Arthur Conan Doyle. They are street boys who are employed by Holmes as intelligence agents. The na ...
, a group of street urchins often employed by
Sherlock Holmes in the novels by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
.
See also
*''
Evergreen Review''
*''
New World Writing
''New World Writing'' was a paperback magazine, a literary anthology series published by New American Library's Mentor imprint from 1951 until 1960, then J. B. Lippincott & Co.'s Keystone from volume/issue 16 (1960) to the last volume, 22, in 19 ...
''
*''
The Realist
''The Realist'' was a Humor magazine, magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of Mad (magazine), ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and ...
''
External links
Gallery of ''Moody Street Irregulars'' coversGallery of ''Kerouac Connection'' covers
{{Kerouac
Defunct literary magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1978
Magazines disestablished in 1992
Magazines published in New York City