Saturday Adventures: The Grave of Jack Kerouac

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Indy-Anna Bones was an archaeologist, explorer, adventurer, cryptozoologist, and a great appreciator of snails.

The Grave of Jack Kerouac

Lowell, MA

On a hot day in July, Indy-Anna Bones went to Boston, where she met a pedi-cab operator who lived on a houseboat in Boston harbor. The pedi-cabber was an expert on Jack As they rolled about Somerville, The pedi-cabber was an expert on Jack Kerouac, and Indy-Anna was on a quest to find his grave.

They ate lunch in Somerville, and walked aroKerouac was the Father of the Beat Generation detailing his adventures and misadventures across the country with his friends in his novels, "On the Road," and "The Dharma Bums."

Jack wrote about driving, jazz, sex, and drugs. The Beats were the lost children of Post-War America

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After lunch Indy-Anna headed down to the beach. Even though it was the hottest day in July, this beach felt like snow was about to blow in, and only a few die-hard beach-goers were braving the weather.

Indy-Anna tried to make friends with a gull, but he had no interest in forming a relationship.

She then found a pile of shells, where a raccoon or seabird had torn them apart. She put the shell in her purse, to give the little guy a decent burial once she came back to more-stable ground.

Indy-Anna headed to to Cambridge for a pick-me-up. It was her favorite part of Boston, where she might find some interesting doodads, or buy a box of artisanal tea.

A funny little guy in Cambridge finally gave her an answer. Jack Kerouac was buried in the small town of Lowell, a few miles outside Boston.

For more than 5 decades Jack's grave was marked only by a small stone with "John" as his name, and his childhood nickname, "Ti Jean" above it. In 2014 he received a headstone befitting his stature, with his signature and quote, "The Road is Life."

According to legend, Bob Dylan sneaks into the cemetery once a year to eat dinner with Kerouac on his birthday. Fans leave offerings around the stone, such as poems and the pens that wrote them, or the baseball that won the game. Jack loved baseball.

Jack Kerouac died in 1969 after a long fight with has celebrated alcohol problem. Stella, his wife and childhood sweetheart was beside him when he died, and was buried beside him in 1990. As her own offering, Indy-Anna left the little seashell she found on the beach, so that little dead clam could be forever linked to the legend of Jack Kerouac.

Indy-Anna took a moment to clean the leaves and debris from Kerouac's neighbors, because they deserved just as much respect.

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