Kerouac Walking Tour Blog

Aaron King

10/24/13

FYSH: Prof. Zabalbeascoa

Jack Kerouac Walking Tour Response

            The “Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Tour” is an informative tour held in downtown Lowell describing the life of the famed author. A native of the city, Kerouac wrote in a spontaneous style that reflected the nature of his lifestyle and of his time here in the city. The tour of the pubs that he frequented as well as the general walking tour both do well to illustrate this nature. Kerouac was an alcoholic, and the disease would ultimately lead to his death. His childhood was marked by a strong Catholic upbringing under his mother, who he was very fond of. The tour gives great voice to Kerouac’s life and also to why it celebrates a man with such a controversial personal life. As a man who very closely resembles the “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” type of lifestyle, it is interesting to see more about his personal life and how came to be such a prolific yet self-detrimental individual. Both the walking tour and pub tour illustrate his life very well.

            The walking tour began at the Lowell Public Library, where Kerouac spent much of his time. He would skip class to go read classics such as Shakespeare, and this is where he would begin to get interested in classic literature. Following this, the tour led us to Lowell High. Kerouac’s time here was marked by a withdrawn but also popular demeanor, and he also was very involved in the athletics the school had to offer. He did fairly well in school. After the high school was Kearney Square, a popular hang-out spot for Kerouac and his friends during his youth. The guide described this place as very reflective of Kerouac’s personality, both polite and disrespectful at the same time, a place Kerouac would have fit right into. Next, the tour guided us to the Jack Kerouac Commemorative, which has inscriptions from various works of Kerouac. The memorial itself consists of various pedestals that intend to represent Kerouac’s Christian and Buddhist background that presents itself all too often in his writing. Finally, the tour led us to the Boott Cotton Mills. These were the mills that Kerouac most often described in his writing, and his descriptions reflected his view of working. As the guide explained, while Kerouac writes his characters as having jobs, his opinion is that the pleasure in life lies in other places.  

            Another portion of the tour that I took was the Pubs Tour. As an alcoholic, Kerouac obviously spent a great deal of time at these pubs and they had a profound impact on him. The first pub was the Worthen House. Established before 1900, much of the interior decoration is still in the restaurant from that time. Next, the tour went to Ricardo’s Café, followed by Ward Eight. This tour demonstrated the influence that alcoholism had on Kerouac’s life. As his views changed of the world around him, and slowly grew more and more pessimistic, he turned to alcohol. He became more depressed as the years went on, and his health deteriorated as a result of his drinking. His writing reflected the shift in outlook.

            These Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival tours were very informative. Not only did they demonstrate in great detail Kerouac’s life, his influences, and how these reflected in his writing, but also the effect he had on the city itself. The uses of the places we visited, which were to commemorate what he did during his time in the city and explore these actions, show that the role Kerouac played in Lowell’s past and present is significant. Just as the city had a deep and profound impact on the author, he meant a lot to the city. Also, this tour showed that to live in Lowell is to live in a place with rich and meaningful history. Overall the tour was a great experience in learning about Lowell.