Posted by Buck How it happened was Dad sold off some land at the back of our house and it became Judy Ann Court. Dad was only 31 when Kerouac moved in next door. Kerouac was a common sight in the neighborhood, especially since he didn't drive. He was also a pugnacious drunk, eager to fly off his barstool at any imagined slight. That’s why he got 86’d from Skippers and Gunthers. Some people change when they drink. From all accounts, he was a simple, polite man when he was sober. When was he sober? I don’t know. But I don’t think it was often. He was a fine writer, though. I don't think you should hold a writer accountable for his sins. All the big ones drank and were crazy sons of b###hes. Look at Big Papa Hemingway. Everyone wanted to be him. Except him. They're in the business of feeling things. But, somehow, I think Kerouac changed my father’s life. In 1960, when he moved in next door, my folks were running the beach concessions at Crab Meadow and Asharoken. Kennedy was elected President and my Dad became a staunch Liberal Democrat. Where the other neighbors gossiped about Kerouac, Dad was intrigued by him. And little by little he began to change. While he worked on his PhD, Dad began the first class for slow learners at the local high school. Just as Kerouac's spirits were being sapped by "spirits," and he was fading from the scene, Dad remarried and formed a commune in our house. Out with the furniture, in with the throw pillows. He was playing the Jefferson Airplane Album at full volume. Then they all sailed away on his boat, an old schooner. For a while, Dad lived in an alternative school in the English countryside. He went to see the Sufis in Chamonix, and ended up remarrying a third time. He's come full circle now, back in Northport, practicing 2 weeks out the month. He has amazing healing practice. He incorporates a number of techniques. Then he goes home to Arizona and his horses and dogs. Oh, and his fourth wife. Dad never drank. Maybe that's the secret to a long career. 76 and still spends his life helping others. The baseball games at the Ocean Avenue field were very cool. It seems like a golden time in my memory. That field got a lot of use. Mostly I remember the 1950’s cars. It would be that first really nice Spring day. And then it was tops down, the Beach Boys blasting from the speaker between the rear seats. The guys pretty much wore white t-shirts, blue jeans, white socks, black loafers. The girls wore jeans or sundresses. Dad traded in his 50 Merc and picked out an aqua and white '57 DeSoto with big fins. He used to race it out at Westhamptom racetrack. Is that even still there? One story I remember: Kerouac called a local contractor in the middle of the night and starting raving about this new bathroom he wanted put in. He went on and on. He had designed the whole thing himself. People gossiped that it cost $5,000, an unexpected and sizeable chunk of cash for the contractor and a gift to Kerouac’s mother who wanted her own bathroom. And who could blame her? Cheers! Buck
on 6/1/2005, 8:43 pm, in reply to "Very Interesting"
64.136.27.229
Hey there Tom. Okay so I’m not in the wrong place. My tale is true. I was only 8 when Kerouac moved in next door. I’m 52 now. It was a long time ago. The Kerouac house was originally occupied by the Letchers. Tough name, don’t you think. Like when you introduce them: “These are my neighbors, the Letchers.” Anyway, they’re the ones who sold it to him. I think Kerouac paid maybe seventeen grand.
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