The California Zephyr at Emeryville
Detail shot of the California Zephyr train at Emeryville (Oakland) station. I was about to start the greatest train journey of my life and one of the very best experiences of my life so far – the journey from San Francisco/Emeryville to Denver is absolutely breathtaking. And it’s forever linked in my mind with Kerouac’s … Continue reading
Oakland Bay Bridge
The Bay Bridge is mentioned in a number of Kerouac’s books, but it’s of course very hard not to notice when in San Francisco. I crossed it a short while after I took this photo on a bus which took me to Emeryville (Oakland) train station where I got on board the California Zephyr to … Continue reading
Tosca
After finishing watching Antonelli’s film Kerouac: The Movie (1985) I decided to post a photo of the Tosca, although I don’t know if Kerouac had a connection with it at all, or if it already existed at the time he hung out in San Francisco. In any case it’s located directly opposite the Cafe Vesuvio … Continue reading
Market Street Cinema, San Francisco
Kerouac loved movies and his books are full with mentions of going to see one. He describes going see a movie with Gregory Corso on Market Street in Desolation Angels, although I can’t say if it was this one (or even if this particular cinema existed in Kerouac’s time, but it looks rather worn and … Continue reading
Pic and Slim Arriving In Oakland
The inspiration for this post is the end of Kerouac’s short novel ‘Pic’, in which Pic and his brother Slim arrive to an uncertain future, without money or a job in Oakland after Slim is seeing no future for himself, Pic and Slim’s wife Sheila in New York. I don’t know the story of … Continue reading
Jack Kerouac’s Jacket
at The Beat Museum, Broadway, San Francisco The label reads: ‘This wool and cotton jacket belonged to and was worn by Jack Kerouac. The label is CPO, a brand popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The earth tones and broad checks reflected Kerouac’s working class aesthetic and it is the type of jacket Kerouac would … Continue reading
Neal and Carolyn Cassady’s house
These photos show the house in which Neal and Carolyn Cassady lived from 1949 to 1952. Jack Kerouac stayed with them a few times, the longest of which was a 6-month stint in which he worked on ‘On The Road’ ‘Dr Sax’ and ‘Visions Of Cody’ (according to Bill Morgan’s ‘The Beat Generation in San … Continue reading
