Anonymous asked: You must have had an interesting time in high school if you spend this much time researching beats.

That’s an interesting hypothesis. I would have had an interesting time in high school if I randomly broke into musical numbers in the cafeteria and/or screwed all of my teachers too, so I might as well have taken this path.

Anonymous asked: I have to come up with a thesis for history on a subject that interests me- I decided to do the Beat Generation. I just need to come up with a cool idea for it. I was thinking of doing one on how the Beats influenced subsequent youth generations (beatniks, hippies, punks, Naropa), but I don't know. I want to talk about all the cool history- like the Columbia years and time on the road, etc. Any ideas?

It sounds like you’re on a great track. You can discuss how Neal Cassady went along with the Merry Pranksters, Ken Kesey, and Leary and other ways in which the Beat culture guided the hippie era or how the introduction of coffeehouse readings and self-publication spurred a focus on individuality and breaking from norms. It’s an awesome topic; you can really take it all over the place. Good luck!

Anonymous asked: Can you share your thesis for your "Jews and Buddhism" paper?

It was actually a response paper after a documentary screening at my college. We watched Belief Amended, Faith Revealed and had a discussion with the director, Bill Chayes. (He’s a nice guy. A little overly-serious about his films, but hey, that can be good.)

I focused my paper on my delight in seeing the way many ethnic Jews combined parts of traditional Judaism with practices of Buddhism and zen. (The film provides numerous examples, including Ginsberg.) From a personal perspective, raised Catholic, I remember hearing almost derogatory statements made about people who “pick and chose” their own religious identity (“cafeteria Catholics”). The “spiritual blending” highlighted in the film was incredibly intriguing. You should all see it if you get the chance!

irresponsiblewanderlustofthesoul asked: Hi. Noticed the request from the anon about posting more women. Some good resources to learn more about female beat writers and key women players in the beat generation are "Breaking the Rule of Cool" and "Girls who Wore Black." Books by Ronna Johnson and Nancy Grace. They explore work by Joyce Johnson, Diane Diprima, and Hettie Jones (the more well known). And include others- Bonnie Frazer, ruth weiss, Joanne Kyger, Ann Charters, Anne Waldman, and Janine Pommy Vega. All writers on the scene.

Wonderful, thank you!

Anonymous asked: Can you post more women please?

I’ll definitely try. As a chick myself, I make an effort to attempt to include the female writers as much as I can. The truth is, there just weren’t a lot of female beat figures. However, the few that exist are really badass, and I’ll try to post more of them. I stumbled across some really interesting Joanne Kyger material. It’s in the queue and should be posted within the next few weeks.

Anonymous asked: Are any of the major Beat figures still alive?

Typically speaking, as in who most people consider “major,” no. Neal Cassady died in 1968, Jack Kerouac in 1969, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997, Gregory Corso in 2001, and Peter Orlovsky most recently in 2010.

However, many Beat figures and friends are still alive, including several musicians (esp. Bob Dylan and Patti Smith) and fellow poets/authors (Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Joanne Kyger, Joyce Johnson, Anne Waldman, Diane di Prima, Michael McClure).

Anonymous asked: Do you think Jack wrote OTR with the purpose of salvation? Ours and his?

I’ve never really thought about it in that way. I think you can definitely argue that he wrote it for his own. I don’t know about ours.

Anonymous asked: What are your personal thoughts on Ginsberg and NAMBLA?

It’s extremely interesting you ask this, as I was actually discussing it yesterday with a friend. I think it’s a difficult subject. In 1994, Ginsberg wrote an essay called “Thoughts on NAMBLA,” and I think it conveys - better than I ever could - his opinion and reasoning. If you search for Allen Ginsberg and NAMBLA, you get tons of conservative backlash, calling him a pervert, pedophile, “nutjob,” etc. I think it’s mildly understandable; the idea of there being a perverted background to his support is reasonable in today’s society. However, there is obvious ignorance to Ginsberg’s true opinion. In the essay, he writes, “These considerations shouldn’t be distorted to apologize for rape and mental or physical violation of children. I respect those who want to fix a general law to prevent abuse of minors.” In other words, by no means did Ginsberg support NAMBLA in order to take advantage of small children or harm anyone. I think a big part of his reasoning was the fact that if they were younger, the relationship between him and Peter Orlovsky would have been deemed illegal. (They had a 7 year age gap.)

As for my personal opinion, I don’t know where I stand. I haven’t done enough research on the topic, and I think it’s one that requires research and personal reflection. I think the laws -as they often are - are iffy, but I’m not in a position just yet to say how I think we should fix them.

I hope this answers your question!

Anonymous asked: Which Jack Kerouac book should I read after reading "On The Road"? There's so many and it's so hard to choose!

If you like the sort of Buddhist feel, definitely try The Dharma Bums. If you want something kind of autobiographical, I’d go to Visions of Gerard. That’s the one I’m saving up money for now. They’re all somewhat connected, so it’s hard to kind of pick one that’s “wrong,” if that makes sense.