State

eei. History By John J. Dorfner One Writer’s Refuge Rocky Mount provided legendary writer Jack Kerouac with inspiration in-between his cross country journeys in the 1950s. When ihe name “Kerouac" conics up. том people, if they've heard the name at all. associate it with the au¬ thor of the 1957 novel On The Road, the ston,’ of one man's search fora place that never existed — paradise. The search took Jack Kerouac speed¬ ing across America in an automobile and into a fren/v of nonstop conversations and confessions. It was a search that many young people indulged in 20 years later, as the 1950s jetted into the 1960s. and it seemed as il every highway was a “road to paradise." Kids with backpacks fcllowshipped in small groups, shared hitch-hiking stories and told of friends and lovers found and lost along the road. It’s strange that most of them had never heard of Kerouac — the man who started "the rucksack revolution." As the wild voice of the 1950s Beat movement. Kerouac, along with fellow writers Allen Ginsburg and William Bur¬ roughs. became an American legend in his pursuit of experience. In On The Road. he chronicled bis journeys across the country. One of his frequent stops tut tied out to be — of all places — Rocky Mount, where his sister’s house became a refuge of sorts. Kerouac referred to the town in his novel as ‘Testament, Virginia." Today, among young people espe¬ cially. there has been a rediscovery of his prose. A while back. I had the opportunity to meet with some of the people in Rocky Mount who knew Kerouac back in the 1950s. They are the people I interviewed for my book, Kerouac: Visions of Rocky Mounl. They are the people who knew Kerouac long before America did. Helen Bone, a long-time resident of Rocky Mount now living in nearby Nashville, remembers the house on Tar- boro Street where Kerouac often visited his sister. Caroline. She remembers stop¬ ping by during Christmas 1948 when Caroline Blake (everyone always called her “Min") and her husband. Paul, were being paid a visit by Jack and his moth¬ er. She says she and her husband “didn’t stay long, as they had company, but we stopped by and said hello." Jack Kerouac in 1 952 She remembers that Nin had the place fixed up "nice, real cute, just like her |x*r- sonality." She describes Jack's sister as a good mother, great housekeeper and very pleasant and lively, which she says was the opposite of Jack, who never spoke to much of anyone. After a short move to Kinston, the Blakes moved into Sarah Langley's small cottage in Big Easonburg Woods, now called West Mount. The city of Rocky Mount decided to change the name to West Mount, says langley, “because it was always confused with Little Eason¬ burg Woods, three miles down Halifax Road. I he fire trucks and ambulances were always sent to the wrong place. It was just too confusing.” The Statc/Mjv 1993 I augley, another long-time resident of Rocky Mount, still lives on the corner in West Mount. She ownetl the house Ker- ouac's family rented during the* 1950s, and knew Jack’s sister, Nin. and Paul Blake well. Her kind words about Jack’s sister and mother give you the im¬ pression she spent many hours talking to them and that she valued their friend¬ ship. Langley's son. jack Jr., and Nin's son. Paul Jr., were very close in age and spent much time together. West Mount sits about five miles out¬ side of Rocky Mount. Tracks of farmland and crossroad country groceries still make up part of the West Mount « «im¬ munity, and the brown, wooden tobac¬ co barns echo a sound of time passed. Keroauc’s family rented the small house that Langley still owns. Bone recalls that Kerouac would “sit and stare at something like he was really thinking about ii for long periods of time. And when he looked at you. he’d look at you like- he was looking right through you." Slu* says they always wondered what he was thinking about. "He always had his writing pad with him. and you'd be talking about some¬ thing and he’d be staring at you and all of a sudden he'd turn around, pick up his pad and write something down," Bone recalls. "And he was always hold¬ ing the cats. too. And all of a sudden he’d put down a cat and pick up a note¬ book. write soin<‘thiiig down, then put down the notebook and pick up the cat again and start petting it. Sometimes, it he was eating, he’d put down his plate, pick up his notebook, write something down, then put «town his notelxtok." Langley says they never knew when Jack was coming. Little Paul would run over all excited and say. "My l nclc Jack is here." Jack would "appear and disap¬ pear." according to Langlcv. She says no one knew when he was coining or w hen he would go. "I le would all of a sudden just lie here." she says. Bom* and Lauglev still wonder how Kerouac got along in life, because he never worked. At the time, they were curious as to how he got monev. Both recall that his mother or Nin would get a phone call from a stranded-and-broke Kerouac, who was out on the road some¬ place. One of them would always send or wire him money. They say Nin was alwnvs sure that Jack would be killed in Mexico. Whenever he