Lowell, MA Jack Kerouac's Hometown, Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Publication of "On the Road" with Marathon Reading and Other Activities

Lowell, MA (PRWEB) August 25, 2007 -- Lowell celebrates its most famous literary figure with a marathon reading of his seminal work, On the Road, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its publication on Sept. 5, 1957. On Sept. 5, 2007, 43 readers will read from one chapter of On the Road, beginning at 10 am and continuing until it is done, estimated at about 10 pm. The marathon reading will take place at Olive That & More at 167 Market Street, Lowell, a deli serving sandwiches, baked goods, beer and wine. Admission is FREE. Readers and estimated times are listed below, but please note that times are approximate, and the schedule is subject to change without notice.

10 am

Part One

Chapter 1 - John Sampas, Jack Kerouac Estate Adminstrator

Chapter 2 - Russell Brand, English radio and TV personality, BBC producer

Chapter 3 - Dave McLaughlin, filmmaker On Broadway

11 am

Chapter 4 - Lloyd Schwartz, poet, UMass Boston Professor, Pulitzer Prize winner, Boston     Phoenix classical editor and NPR contributor

Chapter 5 - Sharon Shaloo, Executive Director of Massachusetts Center for the Book

Chapter 6 - Phoebe Wray, Boston Conservatory Teacher and actor

Chapter 7 - Michael Hoerman, Lowell poet

12 noon

Chapter 8 - Mary Curtin, Charlestown-based theater producer and musician

Chapter 9 - Kathy Devlin, Museum Studies Graduate Student

Chapter 10 - Emily Singer, comic

Chapter 11 - JJ Rassler, musician (DMZ, the Odds, Downbeat 5) and Rounder Records executive

1 pm

Chapter 11 (cont.) Elaine M. Seidel, UMass Lowell IT Department

Chapter 11 (cont.) LZ Nunn, Executive Director, Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL)

Chapter 12 - Steve Eddinston, UMass Lowell Professor and author of The Beat Face of God: The     Beat Generation as Spirit Guide

Chapter 13 - Kristen Kissinger, WBOS DJ

2 pm

Chapter 13 - Dana Marshall, WBOS Music Director

Chapter 13 (cont.) Maureen Chase, Photographer and Spirit Song teacher

Part Two

Chapter 9 - Patrick Pierce, Lowell visual artist

Chapter 10 - Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, filmmaker All Kindsa Girls

3 pm

Chapter 11 - Meg Holmes, Kerouac fan

Part Three

Chapter 1 - Jay Sweet, Editor-at-large, Paste Magazine

Chapter 2 - Stephen Croke, Lowell filmmaker The Busker

Chapter 2 (cont.) Stacie Hargis , UMass Lowell graduate student

Chapter 3 - Lawrence Carradini, Lowell poet and Director of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac

4 pm

Chapter 3 - Meg Smith, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Board Member

Chapter 4 - William Turville, sculptor/architect

Chapter 4 (cont.) Barbara Lynne, Kerouac fan

Chapter 5 - Mary Kostman, visual artist

5 pm

Chapter 6 - Linda C. Carpenter, Director of Advancement American Textile Museum

Chapter 7 - Linda Poras, Executive Director Brush Art Gallery and Studios

Chapter 8 - Kate (Velten) Hemenway, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. consultant

Chapter 9 - Mark Hemenway, Kerouac fan

6 pm

Chapter 9 (cont.) Chantal, Kerouac fan

Chapter 10 - Pamala Dixon, actor, Lowell Image Theater

Chapter 11 - Jerry Bisantz, Actor, Director of Image Theater

Part Four

Chapter 1 - David Robinson, Lowell poet, writer

7 pm

Chapter 2 - Jason Eisenberg, spoken word artist, musician

Chapter 3 - Robert Forrant, UMass Lowell Professor, Regional Economic and Social Studies     Department

Chapter 3 (cont.) Paul Marion, Franco-American writer, UMass Lowell Community Relations     Director

Chapter 4 - Hillary Holladay, UMass Lowell Professor, Director of Jack and Stella Kerouac Center     for American Studies

8 pm

Chapter 4 (cont.) K J Nutter, Kerouac fan

Chapter 5 - Charles Coe, poet

Chapter 5 (cont.) Leanne Tremblay, Revolving Museum Gallery Administrator

Chapter 5 (cont.) Judi Lemoine, Lowell visual artist

Chapter 5 (cont.) Judy Pistacchio Bessette, Italian Cultural Heritage Specialist

Chapter 6 - Nancy Herbstman - Lowell Celebrates Kerouac member

9 pm

Chapter 6 (cont.) John Maguire, artist

Part Five

Chapter 1 Paul Schor, Lowell attorney

This event is one of an ongoing series that started back in June, when the original scroll on which Jack Kerouac's On the Road was written, returned home for a 50th anniversary exhibition at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum at Lowell National Historical Park (115 John Street) . The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 14, is the centerpiece of the series of Kerouac-themed events, called On the Road in Lowell, that have been taking place all summer. The free exhibit is open daily 10 a.m - 5 p.m, and until 7 p.m. on Thursdays.

Drawing on his notes and journals from his cross-country travels from 1947-50, Kerouac wrote his first draft of On the Road over a three week period in April 1951. He taped sheets of paper together so they would run through his manual typewriter, enabling him to keep his flow of writing uninterrupted. The result was a 120-foot continuous "scroll" manuscript. Published in 1957, On the Road became an immediate best seller. This classic novel of freedom and the promise of the open road gave life to the Beat Generation, a subculture that challenged the conformist and materialist values of post-war America.

In May of 2001 James Irsay of Indianapolis, owner of the 2006 NFL Champion Indianapolis Colts, purchased the original "scroll" manuscript of On the Road for $2.4 million at auction. Irsay offered to exhibit the scroll across the country. The official tour began in Orlando in January of 2004 and is scheduled to conclude in 2009.

On the Road in Lowell is a program of Cultural Organization in Lowell (COOL) in partnership with Lowell National Historical Park, the City of Lowell, UMass Lowell, Pollard Memorial Library, and Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!, and is made possible in part with support from Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Jack Kerouac and Stella Kerouac Estate, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Nathaniel and Elizabeth Stevens Foundation, Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Enterprise Bank, The Revolving Museum and Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center.

For more information, visit www.ontheroadinlowell.org or call COOL at 978-446-7162.

On the Road Events Through Sept. 12

August 23

7-9pm Regional Writers series reading at the Pollard Memorial Library.

Merrimack Valley Writers/Poets with Jay Atkinson.

September 5

50th Anniversary of the publication of On the Road.

10am On the Road marathon reading at Olive That and More, 167 Market Street, Lowell.

September 6

7 - 9:30 p.m. Mill City Open Mic and Poetry Slam at Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus, 61 Market Street, Lowell.

7 p.m. Visions of Kerouac: Concert with Normand Guilbeault & Friends at the McDonough Arts Magnet Theater 40 Paige St, Lowell. French Canadian jazz bassist Normand Guilbeault sets Kerouac's text to music.

September 7

7:30 p.m. Kerouac tribute concert with the David Amram Trio at Boarding House Park. Note: this is a ticketed event. Go to www.lowellsummermusic.org for more information.

September 8

Kerouac's Influence: Writers of the Next Generation will be a gathering of creative and scholarly people whose work and lives have been touched by the work of Kerouac at local venues around town.

1-2:30pm Ken Janjigian, Larry Carradini and J.D. Scrimgeour at the Brush Gallery (256 Market St.)

3-4:30pm George Wallace and Dave Robinson at Life Alive (194 Middle St.)

6-7:30pm Jay Atkinson and Mark Schorr at Brew'd Awakening (61 Market St.)

For more information, see: www.ontheroadinlowell.org/events.

September 9

1 - 3 pm Boston/North Shore Regional Writers Series with Jean Monahan, Danielle Legros Georges, Gigi Thibodeau and Richard Wollman at the Boott Events Center.Kerouac's Influence: Writers of the Next Generation will be a gathering of creative and scholarly people whose work and lives have been touched by the work of Kerouac at local venues around town. For more information, see: www.ontheroadinlowell.org/events.

4 p.m. - New England Orchestra, Kay George Roberts, Music Director "The Beat Goes On" - A Celebration of Jack Kerouac with Guest Artists David Amram and Fenwick Smith in Amram's flute concerto "Giants of the Nights" - a tribute to Jack Kerouac, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Liberty Hall.

September 12

7 p.m. Emerson College poets Daniel Tobin, Richard Hoffman and others read.

October 4 & 5

UMass Lowell's 9th Jack Kerouac Conference on Beat Literature. Lectures and panel discussions on Kerouac and the Beats, with a special focus on On the Road.

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