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The Howls That Jack Built

Gerald Nicosia has spent a decade challenging the disposition of Jack Kerouac's $20 million literary estate. Along the way, he's annoyed most of what remains of the beat generation.

A A A Comments By Jack Boulware Thursday, Aug 13 1998

Weinberg names his price for the shot:
"Five thousand dollars." He leans back. "Hey, I could sell this to People magazine."

Although it's unlikely that People would suddenly take $5,000 of interest in a seven-year-old photograph of Johnny Depp or be in the midst of preparing an all-Kerouac issue, the image is worthy in one sense. It represents all that is cold, greedy and empty about the controversy surrounding the legacy of Jack Kerouac.

This long-running dispute could continue in the courts for years or be over in a few weeks. Whatever the outcome, in the end the dispute will not have focused on who might be a proper caretaker for the best-selling voice of a generation. For in the end, the Kerouac obsession is not about novels or poetry at all. It's about literary nobodies who have no blood relation to Jack Kerouac but who through sheer perseverance have envisioned themselves to have become somebodies, at last.

What would Jack Kerouac make of all this?
"He would have enjoyed it. His name would be out there." Sampas smiles, and thinks a moment. "He only would have enjoyed the good aspects of it.

Published:Jack Boulware's story "The Kerouac Obsession," published in the August 13 Westword, incorrectly claimed that Gerald Nicosia spoke so long at an award ceremony that a reception had to be cancelled; actually, the reception was held. The story also contended that Mr. Nicosia once wore a T-shirt with the words "Kerouac vs. Sampas" on it; Mr. Nicosia says no such shirt existed, and we believe him. In addition, the story incompletey described Mr. Nicosia's relationship to the estate of Jan Kerouac. In his role of literary executor, Mr. Nicosia is to receive 10 percent of any income generated from Jan Kerouac's literary estate as a result of publications, sales or licensing arrangements negotiated by Mr. Nicosia. Westword regrets the errors.