Running Through Heaven

Jacob Loewentheil is an antiquarian and photography expert, as well as the curator of the Marcel Sternberger Collection. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in psychology. Long fascinated by other cultures, he has traveled much of the world, including a year spent circumnavigating the globe. His travels have also taken him across much of the American landscape, from the deserts of New Mexico to deep in the Florida Everglades and Alaska's far eastern mountain ranges.

• FOREWORD by Ann Charters 11 COLLECTOR’S STATEMENT        13ACKNOWLEDGMENTS      15INTRODUCTION: Toward an Understanding of Jack Kerouac  17ESSAYS by Jacob LoewentheilBECOMING KEROUAC: A Literary Education in Letters 25 SACRED DRIFT: Kerouac’s Religious Evolution 36ROMANTIC JACK: Myth, Love, and the Spirit of the Road 49 THE LAST ROAD: Jack Kerouac’s "Conservative Turn" 61STILL MOVING: Why Kerouac Matters 67ITEM DESCRIPTIONSAPOSTOLOS  LETTERS  1940–1967     74Letters to Lowell by Holly George-Warren 75 February 18, 1940 78March 1940  79May 2, 1940  80June 1, 1940  82June 4, 1940  82June 9, 1940  84September 26, 1940  84October 27, 1940  86December 4, 1940  86Undated (“Friday nite”), c. 1940  90Undated, c. 1941  92January 8–10, 1941  94February 3, 1941  96February 25, 1941  96March 28, 1941 / “Spring”  97April, 1941  97April 15, 1941  99April / “Spring” 1941  101May 12, 1941  101May, 1941  101February 15–16, 1942  107March 26, 1942  109May 26, 1967  110ED WHITE LETTERS 1948–1968    112Sketches in Friendship: Ed White and the Origins of “Spontaneous Prose” by Tim Hunt    113 July 8, 1948 118November 30, 1948  118January 15, 1949  121May 9, 1949  121January 16, 1950  122March 5, 1950  125April 12, 1950  125April 26, 1950  125July 5, 1950  127August 29, 1950  129September 23, 1950  129November 3, 1950  131March 2, 1951  131March 12, 1952  133August 31, 1953  134August 15, 1954  137April 28, 1957  137June 19, 1958  140July 21, 1958  142August 7, 1961  142February 9, 1962  145May 27, 1964  146March 1, 1965  147October 2, 1965  147April 21, 1968  149THE MUSIC BETWEEN THEM: David Amram on Jack Kerouac 152OTHER LETTERS           166Jack Kerouac’s Quest for Beatitude by Rob Sean Wilson  167Letter to Bill Ryan 170Handwritten Letter to Alan Harrington  171Two Unpublished Letters to Allen Ginsberg Touching on Buddhism 171Typed Letter Draft to Allen Ginsberg 172 Handwritten Letter to Robert Lax 173Letter to Gary Snyder on Completion of Visions of Gerard 175 Letter to Will Petersen 177Letter to Filmmaker Jerry Wald 178 Letter to Allen Ginsberg 180Letter to Neal Cassady  182Typed Letter with Extensive Handwritten Annotations to Girlfriend Lois Sorrells 183Letter to Sterling Lord  184Two Notes to Carolyn Cassady 185 Holiday Card to Carolyn Cassady 186FIRST EDITIONS AND PUBLISHED WORKS     187Three Important Associated or Inscribed Copies of the First Edition of On the Road 189Targ Copy  189Extraordinary Jazz Presentation Copy 191 Kerouac’s Own First Edition Copy 192The Town and the City, Jointly Inscribed by Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg 192Two Inscribed First Edition Copies of The Town and the City 195 Kerouac’s Copy of His First Novel, The Town and the City 197The Dharma Bums, Inscribed to Kerouac’s Mother and Their Cats 197Doctor Sax, Inscribed to Lucien Carr and Francesca von Hartz 199Kerouac’s Personal Copy of Visions of Cody  201MISCELLANEOUS PUBLISHED WORKS    203Kerouac’s First Published Story: “The Brothers”  203 Kerouac’s “Une Veille de Noel” 203Original Printing Paris Review 11 205 Text for Pull My Daisy 205Signed Off the Road by Carolyn Cassady  207The Beat Scene 208Original Printing Paris Review 43  209Kerouac’s Personal Copy of the Evergreen Review Containing His Article “Seattle Burlesque” 209Kerouac’s Personal Copies of Three “Girlie” Magazines with His Writing 209JACK KEROUAC TYPESCRIPT MANUSCRIPTS      211Unpublished Story: “Ken Harris: A Crime Tale” by a Young Kerouac 211Jack Kerouac and His Long-Lost Brother by Richard Kopley 215 Unpublished Draft of Visions of Gerard: An Analysis 219 Kerouac, “Notes to Myself” 224Kerouac, “Letter to Myself”  228JACK KEROUAC’S PERSONAL VOLUMES     230Kerouac’s Personal, Annotated Copy of Dostoyevsky’s The Possessed 231Kerouac’s Personal Copy of Boswell’s Life of Johnson 232 Kerouac’s Personal Copy of Melville’s Shorter Novels  234Kerouac’s Personal Copy of Pa’lante Annotated Volume with Letter 235Kerouac’s Personal Copy of The Way of Zen 236 Kerouac’s Personal Copy of Sea & Sky  237JACK KEROUAC’S PERSONAL POSSESSIONS      238Kerouac’s Venerated Photo of His Brother Gerard 239 Kerouac’s Beat-Era Buddhist Mala Beads 239 Kerouac’s Personal Well-Worn Crucifix 242Kerouac’s Crucifix with Rosary Beads 242 Kerouac’s Handwritten Railway Work Schedule 243 Kerouac’s Tobacco Pouch with Tobacco 244 Kerouac’s Personal Religious Wall Art 245 Kerouac’s Wedding Band 246ADDENDUM: Miscellaneous Kerouac-Related Objects 248 Kerouac, Old Angel Midnight 249Kerouac Family Legal Archive  249Kerouac and Sampas Family Photo Negatives  251Two Contact Sheets of Unpublished Photographs of Kerouac 251 Signed Personal Check 252Neal Cassady’s Chess Set, Oil Portrait of Him, and Chess Books  252 Carolyn Cassady, Letters to Collector Gérard Leman 253 Chicago Jazz Record 254Carolyn Cassady, Framed Photograph of Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Cathy Cassady 254Photographic Portrait of Kerouac Holding Burroughs’s Cat in Tangiers 256Photographic Portrait of Kerouac by Ginsberg (Late in Life)  256INDEX      259