Jack Kerouac

The American writer and poet Jack Kerouac, né Jean Louis Kerouac, became the leading chronicler of the beat generation, a social and literary movement in the 1950's. Born on 12 March 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA, he achieved fame with his spontaneous and unconventional prose, particularly the novel "On The Road" (1957). His loosely structured, autobiographical works reflect a peripatetic life filled with warm but stormy relationships and a deep social disillusionment assuaged by drugs, alcohol, mysticism, and biting humor.

After studying briefly at Columbia University, Kerouac went on to produce a series of thematically and structurally similar novels such as "The Dharma Bums" and "The Subterraneans" (both 1958), "Doctor Sax" (1959), "Lonesome Traveler" (1960), and "Big Sur" (1962).

Despite his untimely death on 21 October 1969 in St. Petersburg, Florida at the age of 47 years old, Jack Kerouac's influential works continue to captivate readers with their raw portrayal of his tumultuous life experiences.