The voice of a generation died 38 years ago today

Today it’s 38 years ago the writer Jack Kerouac died. I know this is not directly related to GTD or personal productivity but the man is sort of a hero for me. I read his novel “On the Road” a few times and also dived in some of his other work like Big Sur and Dharma Bums. In 2001 we decided to take a trip to the westcoast of the USA. We took Highway 1 from San Francisco to LA and then on to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. I got to see the Jack Kerouac Street an the City Lights Bookstore in SF and we drove a bit through Big Sur. Great memories and it really gave me a feeling to know that history was written in these parts.
When you think about it, Jack really got some things done. He sat down at his typewriter and in one burst of creative energy wrote the novel that would make him the voice of his generation. The book was completed in only three weeks. And he used just one long, scrolled piece of paper, improvising endlessly, just like a jazz musician caught up in the excitement of spontaneous creation. That’s productivity to me! While checking some great photo- and videofootage this morning I also found out the scroll is now in the Public Library of San Francisco. Another reason for me to go back to that beautiful city again!

It’s sunday, time for you to relax and unwind. So put up some great jazz and check out some great videos about Jack Kerouac. It’s worth it.

(picture by Dan Allison)

Like this article? Subscribe to the RSS feed! Used tags: books, kerouac, literature, on_the_road

Thanks for honoring such a great american and unique man.
Dan - 21 10 07 - 17:03

Denizens of the Darkness
Jack Kerouac
jim - 21 10 07 - 20:41

Yeah, man. Kerouac’s a great inspiration to me, too.

Have you ever heard his reading from On the Road? It’s really cool to listen to him read from his legendary tome.
Jason - 22 10 07 - 03:09

Thanks for the comments. @Jason I never heard him read On the Road. I have one CD with his voice called Readings by Jack Kerouac on the Beat Gen.. which is pretty excellent.
Frank Meeuwsen - 22 10 07 - 21:47

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Frank Meeuwsen

About

This is an article which is part of my weblog "What's the Next Action". It deals with everything GTD and the five phases of projectplanning as written by Dave Allen in his book "Getting Things Done".

The previous article on this blog is called 'Incredible list of productivity boosters'.
The next article on this blog is called 'Doin' it, delegatin' it, deferrin' it.'.
You can find all the articles on the frontpage.
You can contact me via email on punkey at gmail dot com.

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