Carolyn Cassady - Misplaced Pages

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Carolyn Cassady (b. April 28, 1923) is an American writer associated with the Beat Generation through her marriage to Neal Cassady, her friendships with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg and her association with other prominent Beat figures. She became a frequent character in the works of Jack Kerouac, who wrote extensively about Neal Cassady.

She was born Carolyn Robinson in Lansing, Michigan on April 28, 1923, the youngest of five siblings. Both of her parents were educators, her mother a former English teacher and her father a biochemist, who raised their children according to strict conventional values. She spent the first eight years of her childhood in East Lansing, then the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee where Carolyn attended the Ward-Belmont Preparatory School for Girls. Although she enjoyed the school, she was less happy with Nashville and chose to spend her summers in Glen Lake, Michigan.

After the move to Nashville, Carolyn began her lifelong interest in the arts and in theater. She began formal art lessons at age 9, sold her first portrait at age 14, and continued her interest in portrait painting as an adult. At age 12 she joined the Nashville Community Playhouse, where she won awards for set designs and became the head of the make-up department at age 16. She secured a scholarship to Bennington College, an exclusive women's school in Vermont, where she initially studied art then switched to drama.

In 1943 Carolyn was allowed to study for six months in New York City. Until she and her roommate could find an apartment of their own, they were hosted by Robert Sherwood, playwright and author of FDR's speeches. By day she worked for Dazian's fabric company, by night she studied at Traphagen School of Design, and on weekends she browsed the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art for little-known prints of period dress. She also attended Broadway stage productions, witnessed the beginning of the American Ballet Theater, and took in performances of the biggest swing bands of the era. Both she and her roommate became air raid wardens as auxillary members of the NYPD.

At Bennington, Carolyn took classes with Martha Graham, Erich Fromm, Peter Drucker, Francis Ferguson, Ted Roethke, and other noted teachers in their fields. She obtained her BA degree in Stanislavsky Drama in 1944.

After graduation, Carolyn became an occupational therapist for the U.S. Army and served at Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs, California. When the war ended she returned to Nashville to continue her work at the Nashville Community Playhouse, paint and recover from her war experiences.

In 1946, Carolyn moved to Denver, Colorado to study for her MA degree in Fine Arts and Theater Arts at the University of Denver. She worked as a teaching assistant and began a Theater Arts department for the Denver Arts Museum.

In March 1947, Carolyn met Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Allen was a guest in her residence hotel apartment for two weeks before finding an apartment of his own and Jack accompanied her to rehearsals at the University. In the evenings Carolyn, Neal and Jack frequented Denver's clubs to dance and hear music. It was during this period that Carolyn and Neal began their love affair, though at the time he was still married to his first wife, LuAnne Henderson. In August 1947, Carolyn was shocked to find LuAnne, Neal and Allen naked, in bed together. She decided her brief romance with Neal was over and departed for Hollywood, CA on the promise of a job opening as costume designer for Western Costume Company.

While waiting for the job opening, Carolyn moved north to San Francisco, staying initially with an older married sister before finding temporary work and an apartment of her own. But five weeks after she left Denver, Neal re-entered her life and they resumed their romance. His marriage to LuAnne was annulled on March 31, 1948 and the next day Carolyn and Neal were married.

The job as costume designer finally came through, however Carolyn declined because she was pregnant. Neal worked at various jobs, finally becoming a brakeman for Southern Pacific Railroad. On September 6, 1948 Carolyn gave birth to a daughter, Cathleen Joanne, the first of their three children. Carolyn fully expected life to settle down, but was shocked when, in December, Neal spent their savings a new Hudson and declared he was going to be taking a short trip to New York to pick up Jack Kerouac and provide honeymoon transportation for friend Al Hinkle and his new bride. Although Neal did make provisions for Carolyn's and baby Cathy's care, she considered this desertion and told him not to return.

Neal drove to Denver to pick up ex-wife LuAnne, and then picked up Kerouac in North Carolina. The story was immortalized in Kerouac's On the Road. Believing the marriage was finished, Carolyn moved with her infant daughter to an apartment near Mission Dolores in San Francisco. At the end of January of 1949, Neal dropped Jack and LuAnne off on a San Francisco street corner and was back in Carolyn's life. He took care of Cathy during the day while Carolyn worked assisting a radiologist.

In San Francisco Jack spent a few days as a guest in their home before returning to New York. After Neal resumed working for Southern Pacific Railroad, they moved to better housing, and in 1952 Jack joined them for several months, beginning to write Visions of Neal, which later became On the Road, Visions of Cody, and other works. With Neal's encouragement, Carolyn and Jack began an affair that continued until 1960. In 1953, Jack joined Neal working as a brakeman for Southern Pacific Railroad, and he lived with them after they moved to San Jose, CA.

Carolyn and Neal had two more children, Jami and John Allen, named for James (Jack) Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg respectively. After receiving compensation from a railroad injury, they bought a home in Monte Sereno, CA, which was then part of the suburb of Los Gatos, about fifty miles south of San Francisco. Jack, Allen and the other Beat writers often visited. Carolyn continued to paint portraits and became costume designer and make-up artist for the Los Gatos Academy of Dance, the Wagon Stagers, the San Jose Opera Company, the San Jose Light Opera Compan, and the drama club of the University of Santa Clara.

In 1958, Neal was arrested by narcotic agents to whom he had given three marijuana cigarettes. He was falsely accused of drug trafficking, and he served two years at San Quentin prison, leaving Carolyn to fend for herself on welfare, take care of their children and continue her painting and theater work.

After Neal was released from prison, he lost his railroad job for good and became progressively errant. When his parole ended in 1963, Carolyn decided to divorce him, mostly to free him from the burden of family obligations, a decision she later regretted. Without employment or family to anchor him, Neal joined [[Ken Kesey|Ken Kesey's) band of Merry Pranksters and embarked on an endless series of road trips, dying prematurely of excessive drug use in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico on February 4, 1968, four days short of his forty-second birthday.

Carolyn worked at a local newspaper and for radiologists, and she also extended her theater activities. Then, in 1970, Doubleday commissioned her to write her memoirs of her life with Neal and Jack. However she was unable to secure permission to print Kerouac's letters, and the book was temporarily shelved.

After all three children had married and left home, Carolyn longed for more cultural life than was available in the San Francisco suburbs. Her ancestors were all buried in England, and she had been brought up with many English customs, so in 1983 she moved to London, England. With London as her home base, she traveled extensively in Europe, Scandinavia and the Soviet Union, making many friends. In 1990, her memoirs were finally published in London as Off the Road: My Years With Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg. She currently makes her home in the country about an hour outside London.

Bibliography

Heart Beat: My Life with Jack and Neal. Berkeley, CA: Creative Arts, 1976; St. Albans: Granada, 1980.
Off the Road: My Years with Cassady, Kerouac, and Ginsberg. New York: Morocco, 1990; London: Bloomsbury, 1990; London: Black Spring Press, 2007

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