Jack Kerouac
W hen i was a senior in high
school, there was a book that
was passed around our circle of
friends more than any other. “On the
Road” was a novel filled with a sense
of freedom in life unlike anything I
think we had read before. We would all
later come across this elusive ideal
again in the works of Hemingway and
the poetry of Whitman, but for that
time, Jack Kerouac’s classic book was
unique for us.
I think it was because Kerouac
wrote about life not as an endless trial
of competition or monetary gain, but
as something to be savored, to be ex
perienced because each fleeting mo
ment was too precious to let pass.
Kerouac wrote most of his work about
the “beat” generation, those post-war
Americans who saw and rejected the
complacency of McCarthyism, the
rise of the middle-class and the begin
nings of the TV and suburban lifestyle.
For many of my friends and I, grow
ing up under the Reagan administra
tion and the “yuppie” years, many
things seemed to parallel. While the
government was promoting “Just Say
No,” Kerouac’s work was about just
saying yes.
"The Jack Kerouac Collection” is a
grouping of the three spoken word al
bums that Kerouac recorded in the
preserves
classic recordings
By Kevin Robinson
with backup by Steve Alien on piano.
Apparentty, this album came about
while Kerouac was performing live po
etry readings on Allen’s TV show.
While the weakest in the set, it does
contemn excerpts from “On the Road.”
“Goofing at the Table" shows the way
that Kerouac was fond for a sort of
seating word jazz.
By far the test of the three is the last
album, “Readings for the Beat Gener-
ation” (rather redundant titles, aren’t
they?). This contains probably the best
hark on all three albums, “Neal and
the Three Stooges,” about legendary
Beal hero, Neal Cassidy. Kerouac was
always at his best when he would spin
yams about the adventures and
mannerisms of Cassidy, and this little
story is one of tine best, building up the
mythic quality that Kerouac gave Cas
sidy in his work.
Drink and drugs were Kerouac’s fa-
outakes from the original sessions,
there is some funny and interesting
banter between the producer, Ker
ouac and the musicians behind him
which gives an insight into the chaos
that went on behind the scenes of
these sessions.
In hindsight there is also a dark
irony. Alcohol would eventually be one
of the leading factors in Kerouac’s
death in 1969.
The Kerouac set also includes an
incredible booklet, filled with rare pho
tographs, a listing of all Kerouac’s
printed work and live television perfor
mances, along with essays by his
good friends and fellow beat writers,
Allen Ginsburg and William S. Bur
roughs. It serves as kind of a guide to
the man and his work, and anyone
who enjoys his work enough to pay
the cost of this large collection is
late ’50s. Long out of print, these al
bums were previously available only
as incredibly expensive collector’s
items. The magic of these recordings
is actually hearing Kerouac’s work
performed by the man himself.
I have to say “performed” because
Kerouac does not merely read his po
etry and prose pieces on this album.
His work was highly influenced by the
"bop” jazz of artists such as Charlie
“Bird” Parker. As a result, his work
was usually as wild and eclectic as the
music that inspired it, and this is what
comes across from the live perfor
mance.
Kerouac’s printed work is known for
its manic, stream of conciousness
style, but this style truly comes alive
when shouted out by the author, while
the tenor sax of Zoot Sims plays unob
trusively in the background. While
much of the material performed on
these albums is obscure poetry, there
are a few excerpts read from his tetter
known prose, “On the Road," “The
Subterraneans” and “Visions of Cody."
For those who have read these novels
previously, listening to Kerouac per
form them is nothing short of a reve
lation.
The first album in the collection,
“Poetry for the Beat Generation,” is
exactly that, poems read by Kerouac
^ J7 ven people who can't
E* get through his wild
'run-on prose on paper are
instantly captured by his
voice. So I am ecstatic that
medium of sound has finally
found him. A lullaby of this
magnitude will be sorely
'needed in the mad decades
to COme. j an Michele Kerqjiac,
Jack's daugf
vorite activities outside of his writing,
and their presence can be felt on
these recordings. By Kerouac’s own
admission in the liner notes, he was
“stoned during most of these ses-
sions." The performances, though vi
brant, are toll of slurred words and silly
goofs.
However, these slip-ups are part of
the personality of these recordings
and probably give more of what a live
poetiy reading by Kerouac at a club
would have been like. In many of the
added bonus tracks, which are merely
going to appreciate this oooklet.
Obviously, for anyone not totally
caught up in Kerouac’s prose and po
etry, “The Jack Kerouac Collection" is
not the place to start. But for those that
have read his books and want a little
more, these recordings provide a
more personal look at the way that the
printed page was envisioned in the
author’s mind. Although Jack Kerouac
died well over two decades ago, the
strength of his performance and deliv
ery of his own work has been given a
new chance to be heard.
page 4
February 7,1991
Dr. Marilyn Kem-Foxworth
Foxworth attacks
images of blacks
in advertisements
By Lisa Young
S urrounded by Aunt Jemima
dolls, pictures, products
and pillows, one can easily
see that Texas A&M University journa
lism associate professor Dr. Marilyn
Kem-Foxworth has a genuine interest
in public relations and advertising as it
relates to the black community.
For more than 16 years, Foxworth
has researched the psychological im
pact stereotypical depictions of
Blacks in the media have on the Amer
ican public. Her goals are to inform
the public of how detrimental these
negative depictions can be to society.
Many of America’s major cities are
becoming vastly populated with
“people of color,” Foxworth says. “I
must try to prepare society for the di
versity that’s coming in the 21st cen
tury and all the adjustments that so
ciety must make in order to acco
mmodate everyone," Foxworth says.
Foxworth is not at all a stranger to
the terrible effects that prejudice and
discrimination may have on people of
color. She grew up in Cosciusco, Mis
sissippi in an era when discrimination
and prejudice were everyday occur
ences.
“I remember a cafe in town that Afri
can-Americans were not allowed to
eat in,” Foxworth says. “We had to or
der our food at an outside window and
take it home with us instead.”
Foxworth clearly remembers the ra
cial tensions that existed in her home
town of Cosciusco. “The Civil Rights
Movement came to the heart of my
hometown when the first black to at
tend Ole Miss had to struggle to be
admitted,” she says.
When other little girls were playing
with dolls, Foxworth remembers being
an active part of the Civil Rights
Movement. “I remember participating
in boycotts and marches when I was
only 12 and 13 years old,” she says.
Foxworth says she was valedicto
rian of her senior class the year her
high school was integrated. She re
members feeling fear and anxiety
along with happiness about the honor.
M was frightened when my principal
called me into his office to tell me that
I had to deliver the valedictory
speech,” Foxworth says. “Another Af
rican-American girl had been slain for
delivering her valedictory address just
weeks before I was to deliver my
speech.”
Foxworth’s high school valedictory
speech would not be the last one she
would deliver. She went on to also be
come valedictorian of her graduating
class at Jackson State University in
Mississippi, where she received her
bachelor’s degree.
Foxworth continued her studies at
Florida State University where she re
ceived her master’s degree. She be
gan working on her doctoral degree
from the University of Madison-Wis-
consin at the age of 21. Presently, she
is the only African-American to hold a
doctoral degree with a concentration
in advertising and public relations.
Foxworth remembers a time when
her mother would boast to the neigh
bors about her grades.. “My mother
was so proud of my grades that she
would show people my report cards,”
she says. “It was so embarrassing.”
It seems that her mother knew then
what the world is currently discover
ing. Her mother knew that Foxworth’s
college career was a good indication
of what was to happen in her daugh
ter's future.
Foxworth has completed a book of
poetry titled “Ebonessence: the Ex
pressions of a Black Woman through
Verse." She is currently writing a book
titled,“Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and
Rastus: A Socio-Historical Analysis of
Blacks in Advertising and Public Rela
tions."
The latter book, foreworded by
“Roots” author Alex Haley, chronicles
black history in advertising from slav
ery to the present. Foxworth says she
dedicated the book to her late mother,
who didn’t get the opportunity to see
all the changes that have taken place
in today's society.
Foxworth feels she must make a
continous effort to contribute to her
race and society. “Life is all about
helping others,” she says. “I would
like to think that I help young people
reach their fullest potential.”
Foxworth says her mother played
an important role in the person she
has developed into and she wants to
share that knowledge with others. “My
mother has made me what I am today
and what I will be in the future," she
says.
With so many accomplishments un
der her belt, one could ask what could
the future goals of Marilyn Foxworth
possibly be? Whatever they may be,
one can confidently believe that she’s
sure to reach them.
page 9
Life Style.magazine