An evening with John Cassady and George Walker
By Harry Burrus November 28, 2008 San Miguel de Allende


San Miguel Authors’ Sala 
A Celebration of the Beat Writers
A literary mini-festival
Sat, Dec 13, 5–9:30pm
Hotel Real de Minas
Cnr. Ancha de San Antonio & Stirling Dickinson
200 pesos by Dec 1; 250 pesos afterward

Going to the right from the woman under the clock: Diane Sward, Pierre Delattre (holding watermelon), Kathy Van Leeuwen, George Walker, Neal Cassady, Carol DeLattre and Peter Olwyler (April 1967).

Prompted by enticing stories about two cool, anti-establishment writers in New York City, an enthusiastic 20-year-old Neal Cassady and his 16-year-old bride, LuAnne Henderson, headed to New York City in October 1946, to meet Jack Kerouac (24) and Allen Ginsberg (20), two principals of the evolving Beat generation. This encounter and subsequent enduring friendship deeply impacted all three men and greatly influenced their generation and beyond.

At the Authors’ Sala event, John Cassady will read from his father’s letters and discuss what it is like being the son of a mythologized man whose influence is still felt today.

George Walker, whose Merry Prankster nickname was “Hardly Visible,” will relate his unique experiences on the 1964 cross-country bus ride with Neal Cassady. He will share details about spending time with Ken Kesey and Ginsberg and meeting Kerouac and Timothy Leary. He will explain the Pranksters’ challenge, “Can You Pass the Acid Test?” and give us insight into the real Neal Cassady.

On April 1, 1948, Cassady married Carolyn Robinson. They had two daughters, Cathy and Jamie. Their youngest child, John Cassady, was born in 1951. Neal Cassady’s autobiographical novel, The First Third, was published in 1971. Carolyn Cassady’s Off the Road details her 20 years with Neal and Kerouac. Major collections of Cassady’s correspondence with Ginsberg are in As Ever and Collected Letters, 1944-1967. Cassady inspired characters in other Kerouac novels, and is in John Clellon Holmes’ Go. He was also featured in Ginsberg’s seminal breakthrough poem, Howl. His fascinating and complex life has motivated four biographers and counting. He is immortalized in The Grateful Dead’s “The Other One” and lead singer Jerry Garcia said that the group owed its existence to Cassady. He also has been the focus of other songs, and portions of his life have been depicted in various films.

A few years after they met, Cassady and Kerouac began a series of impetuous US and Mexico cross-country adventures.

 These trips eventually turned into Kerouac’s novel On the Road whose main character, Dean Moriarty, was based upon Cassady. Moriarty/Cassady became an iconic figure, symbolizing the free-spirited rebel of the Beat generation.

Despite his limited formal education, Cassady greatly influenced Kerouac’s basic writing style. His letters, particularly the Joan Anderson letter (1950), written in a free-flowing, uninhibited conversational manner, without taboos, so impressed Kerouac that he abandoned the sentimental style he’d adopted from Thomas Wolfe and invented his own spontaneous prose. Under this new approach, words poured out of Kerouac, devoid of self-consciousness or cerebral vacillation.

Unlike Kerouac, who sank deep into acute alcoholism and regretted the way the sixties evolved, Cassady embraced the counter-culture movement. He joined novelist Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, driving the Day Glo-colored bus to NYC. This journey tethered the fifties Beat generation to the flowering psychedelic scene that became the sixties California hippie generation.

In NYC, Cassady arranged for Ginsberg and Kerouac to meet Kesey, Walker and the other Pranksters, envisioning a symbolic passing of the torch from the Beats to the psychedelic generation. The anticipated event didn’t go well. Kerouac wasn’t in a good mood and drank too much. He hadn’t seen Neal since 1959 and was disturbed by Neal’s high, nervous and slightly frantic behavior with his new younger crowd.

In September 1966, Cassady and George Walker joined Kesey and the Pranksters in Mexico, experimenting with acid (LSD) in Manzanillo, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Walker and Cassady returned to Mexico in January 1967. In Puerto Vallarta, they met the Van Leeuwen sisters and accepted their invitation to come to San Miguel for the first time. Cassady was in San Miguel portions of March, all of April and some of September 1967. He returned to San Miguel in early 1968 and died on February 4, four days shy of his 42nd birthday.

George Walker was born in Eugene, Oregon, at the summer solstice in 1939. A fifth-generation Eugenian, his ancestors planted the first hazelnut orchard in the Willamette Valley. Walker graduated from the University of Oregon in 1961 and briefly attended Stanford Law School and then studied philosophy for a couple of years. He crossed paths with Ken Kesey in 1960 and Neal Cassady shortly thereafter and became a member of the Merry Pranksters. In later years, he sailed, successfully racing the Flying Cloud schooner. Always interested in cars, he entered the Indianapolis 500 in 1992.

The bus during the acid tests around San Francisco after summer of 1964.

The Merry Pranksters was Kesey’s anti-establishment, non-conformist artistic group, whose members were dedicated to pursuing heightened self-awareness aided by psychoactive drugs, primarily LSD, and to participating in major LSD events which they called “Acid Tests.” Kesey had participated in government-sponsored drug experiments that became the inspiration for his book One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Kesey bought a 1939 International Harvester bus for a trip by the Pranksters to NYC to be there in time for his Sometimes a Great Notion book signing. Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack” pounded from the elaborate sound system as the 14 Pranksters began their journey on June 14, 1964. The expedition became emblematic for rebelling against authority and the empowerment of individuals. “We played Coltrane’s Africa/Brass album while we painted the bus,” says Walker, who shot film of the epic bus ride, served as mechanic and was Cassady’s backup driver.

After LSD became illegal in 1966, Kesey was busted, staged a suicide and headed to Mexico. In March, Walker and fellow Prankster Ken Babbs drove the other Pranksters in the bus to Mexico and met Kesey in Mazatlan and then continued to Manzanillo. Walker returned to the States later in the summer to get Neal. They drove back to Mexico in September in Cassady’s 1955 Chrysler, met Kesey and the others, and held Acid Tests in various cities in Mexico.

Tickets are available in person at Mailboxes, Etc., Reloj 26, or online at www.sanmiguelauthors.com . Ticket price includes a light supper.

Harry Burrus, with advanced degrees in dramatic arts, film and creative writing, has written nine poetry collections, twelve screenplays and the novel The Hummingbird Wizard. He is the writer, director and producer of the feature film Marrakech. 

Book Fever
By Marcia Loy

Book Fever heads to England

Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward; for there you have been, there you long to return. —Leonardo da Vinci

There are a few things in life I’m passionate about: my daughter, a friend in Illinois, reading, baseball and England. I cried for a week when Princess Diana died, when I had looked forward to seeing what she would make of the rest of her life. I was fortunate enough to visit England in 1990 and travel to York, where my mother’s ancestors came from. I didn’t get to Manchester, where my father’s mother’s family emigrated from, but I hope to return to England someday. England is like Mexico. I think you could spend the rest of your life visiting it and not see everything. This week, with great pleasure, Book Fever presents three distinctly different books about England. 

This handbook can be used best by the person who has a keen interest in Western Europe as a primary source of inspiration for art, music, literature, philosophy, religion, politics and economics. The book is designed to be both scholarly and practical. —Michael H. Macdonald, from the Preface

Europe: A Tantalizing Romance, Michael H. Macdonald, 1992. The author of this book has written mainly about England, France and Germany. He includes sections on the history of those three countries, the European philosophers, soccer, science, art, literature and music, as well as a chapter on the great cities of Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Florence, Madrid and Athens. Since this week’s column is about England, Book Fever will focus on the entries involving that country. Macdonald discusses the history of England to the present time, then looks at the other areas noted above.

When I left Glasgow to work as assistant to Siegfried Farnon I had the conviction, like many Scots, that there was no scenery outside Scotland. I had a mental impression of Yorkshire as a stodgy, uninteresting place—rural in parts, perhaps, but dull. . . . I suddenly found myself in a wonderland. —James Herriot, from the first chapter

James Herriot’s Yorkshire, 1979. My mother’s ancestors came from York and I got a copy of this book three years ago. I spent a lot of time reading the text and looking at the pictures and wondering why they ever left and what my life would have been like if they hadn’t. I was a big fan of the television series and the books Herriot wrote about the life of a country vet. In this book he shows the wonders of Yorkshire. The book is filled with outstanding photographs by Derry Brabbs.

Excerpt: About two miles from Kilburn—you might say just round the corner—lies Coxwold, a justly renowned village. Its popularity could be explained simply by its appearance, with its fascinating old houses resting on the slope of the hill; it is really a show village, a picture of mellowness and grace with a fine inn, the Fauconberg Arms. But there are other features which have brought it fame.

One of the most beautiful churches in Yorkshire looks down from near the hilltop. It is noted for its most unusual octagonal tower. If you walk a hundred yards north you will find, on the opposite side of the road, the ancient Shandy Hall were Laurence Sterne, the famous humorist and wit, lived for seven years while he was vicar of Coxwold.

In his letters, Sterne declares that he was never happier than when he was at Coxwold, and indeed one can imagine that his life must have been pleasant in such charming surroundings and in a house which seems to breathe peace and contentment from the old brick of its gabled frontage.

Three quarters of a mile south of Coxwold is Newburgh Priory with its placid lake. It was built by the Augustinians in 1145 and during all the years I lived in Yorkshire I have listened to arguments as to whether the body of Oliver Cromwell lies there.

I love My Love Affair with England. It is written clearly and with an understanding that far surpasses any feeling of condescension or superiority or general quaintness among the natives, all of which I detect in books about other countries. —M.F.K. Fisher

My Love Affair with England: A Traveler’s Memoir, Susan Allen Toth, 1992. Susan Toth visited England for the first time in the summer of 1960, before her senior year of college. She’s been back many times since and conveys a deep love for the country.

Excerpt: Perhaps I love England most for its paths. They lead across pastures and cultivated fields, over stiles and through gates, into valleys and over hills, along the banks of rivers and canals, beside lakes and ponds, atop mountain ridges and seaside cliffs, past moors, meadows, bogs, and dunes, and through every English garden. Any Ordinance Survey map of England, especially the Pathfinder series, is covered with thin crooked broken lines whose tiny dashes indicate footpaths.

Some footpaths are thin overgrown tracks, almost impossible to trace among hip-high weeds. These paths tend to brush a careless walker with stinging nettles or slap a leg with prickly burrs. Other paths are as wide as a country lane, even sometimes metamorphosing into dirt roads. Most paths are flattened grass or dirt, but well-used ones, especially those on National Trust property, are often pebbled, paved or covered with wood chips.

Paths come in all sizes. The park of any great country house has a catalog of paths, from swept avenues lined with trees to brick-edged garden walks. At Killerton House in Devon, one thyme-covered stone path winds in and out of a Victorian rock garden sheltered in a steep dell. It is so narrow that only one walker can thread its intricacies at a time. Not far from the rock garden, a broad Beech Walk, named for the stately handsome trees that shade it, offers a promenade where several houseguests could stroll abreast or even drive a small pony cart.

In coming weeks Book Fever will look at Africa, Asia and Australia. Happy reading.

A story redefines Christmas
By Anthony S. Maulucci

Workshop
Writing a Christmas Story 
Anthony S. Maulucci
Tue, Dec 2, 3–5pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Publica
Donation 100 pesos

Have you ever wanted to write a story based on a special Christmas memory? Think of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Perhaps you’d like to create fictitious characters facing an imaginary crisis, such as in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

This workshop will get you started on just such a short writing project, which you can complete on your own in time for the holidays, possible illustrated as a special gift to your family.

Beginning with prompts in poetry and prose to spark an idea, you write a rough draft that you use later to fully develop a story or character. Working within the three-week time frame (December 2–25) may stimulate the creative juices and provide the momentum to complete the project.

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, the first of five holiday books, during an intense six weeks in 1843. Certain of its success, he withheld the rights from his publisher and published it himself. His hunch paid off—the book sold out a week after publication, has been a bestseller for 165 years and has 200 film adaptations. He reversed the decay of old Christmas traditions and redefined the major sentiments associated with the holiday.

If you’re concerned you may not be able to finish prior to Christmas, you can always read a rough draft to your family, get their feedback and work on revising it for Christmas 2009. It could become an ongoing annual project, like Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Bring your favorite writing materials; beginners are warmly welcome. Contact Anthony at quietcities@gmail.com for more information.

Anthony S. Maulucci has taught creative writing in colleges and private workshops for two decades. He developed ideas about the connections between writing and visual art while at the Lyme Academy College of Art in Connecticut. Work samples are at www.greentigerproductions.com  or www.anthonymaulucci.com;  his novels, poetry and story collections are at Libros El Tecolote.

Cruz del Palmar book drive
By Kirby Feagan

Cruz del Palmar is a rural community northwest of San Miguel and its new library needs Spanish or bilingual books. The small building was recently renovated and now books are needed to fill it.

My mom suggested a book drive to collect books to donate. I placed a box in the Biblioteca Pública and another at Authors’ Sala events to collect books. My friends have helped spread information about the book drive and so far we have collected 36 books.

I love the idea of giving books to people. Every book donated is one extra story for many people to enjoy and is so appreciated. It would be a great help if I could continue to collect more books of any type (novels, picture books, dictionaries, biographies, textbooks, etc.).

Last spring, my mom and I wanted to find a charity we could help. When we heard about the new library, we felt it was a perfect project. For weeks, my friends and I baked homemade desserts to sell every Friday at school and collected over 1,000 pesos.

The donation box is located in the central patio to the right of the entrance at the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25, open Monday–Friday, 10am–7pm and Saturdays, 10am–2pm. You also can bring books to Authors’ Sala events held once a month at St. Paul’s Church, Cardo 6.

If you have questions, please email misskirbykat@yahoo.com. 

Kirby Feagan is an eighth-grader at Victoria Robbins School and has been living in San Miguel for seven years.




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