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Neal Cassady was undeniably the real genius behind the Beat movement.  He was a force of nature.  The inspiration behind Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road, the man Allen Ginsberg dedicated his landmark poem Howl to, the man who motivated and inspired William S. Burroughs, Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead…and untold number of others.

Who was this man? To the world, he was an icon of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, the Holy Goof, Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus Furthur on the road to Nevereverland,

To us, he was husband, father, and friend.  We are the Cassady family, dedicated to bringing you the real Neal, the Neal we knew.  Neal’s wife Carolyn Cassady and their children; Cathy Cassady Sylvia, Jami Cassady Ratto and John Allen Cassady wanted to bring the world the truth about the man, the myth, the one and only Neal Cassady.

So join us in this odyssey of discovery, learn the truth behind the myth as we memorialize not the legend, but the man, Neal Cassady.

The big news this month is that on Thursday, June 5th, 2008, a new baby boy was born.

Our daughter, Becky gave birth to Bradley Joseph Locatelli, Jami and Randy’s first grandchild and the 4th great grandchild of Carolyn and Neal Cassady. Roy, the father, and Becky and Bradley are all doing well.

Neal and Carolyn already have 3 great grandchildren. Their oldest daughter, Cathy’s son, Bill and his wife, Dee have Jon (9 years old), Ellie (7 years old) and David (4 years old.).

Here is a picture of them at Disneyland (with one of our favorite stars, Johnny Depp!)

What was it that attracted Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady to each other?

1) Sport:

From a child, Neal was fascinated by every sport and sportsman. He did all he could do develop his own skills as he ran to and from school, while he fed his mind on every sport and sportsman of the day. He dreamed of joining the football team at Notre Dame. Whatever he did, he had to be the best. He met Kerouac, a football hero, also interested in most sports. Jack was always astounded at Neal's photographic memory that could come up with every record of every sportsman past and present from baseball to auto racing.

2) Intellect and education:

Neal, having been raised in the slums of Denver amongst the world's lost men, he determined to make more of himself, to become somebody, to be worthy and respected. His genius mind absorbed every book he could find, whether literature, philosophy or science. Jack had had a formal education which Neal envied, but intellectually he was more than a match for Jack, and they enjoyed long discussions on every subject, Jack amazed at Neal's knowledge.

3) Music:

Both men enjoyed music of all kinds--classical, country, jazz, bop, ethnic, and their tastes grew together as they changed.

4) Physique:

Neal's energy was always noted by all. He was muscular but wirey, light on his feet and swift. Jack, on the other hand was clumsy, muscle-bound and terribly self-conscious. He admired Neal's ability to deal with anyone on their level, his skill in seducing women and charming anyone he met, his zest for life and hunger for experience. Jack hoped to learn some of these skills from Neal while he shared that zest for life and hunger. A deep and everlasting love developed between them both but there was never a question of homosexuality.

Alas, they lost personal touch in their last years when both were destroyed by drugs and alcohol. Both of their minds had been ingrained with the Catholic dogma of being guilty miserable sinners and unworthy, and this they never overcame, no matter how much they mentally believed otherwise and adopted other faiths.

All the best, Carolyn

Latest News

CALIFORNIA GOING UP IN SMOKE

A quick update as of June 28, 2008

Many of you no doubt have read or heard about the fires in Big Sur (and the rest of California!)

Started by lightning storms last weekend the fire has consumed about 27,000 acres and is only about 3% contained.

The news this morning was very good in that the Henry Miller Library and his redwood home had been saved.

The Nepenthe Restaurant (where scenes of the documentary movie "One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur" were filmed) was also saved and the kitchen of this famed restaurant perched on the cliffs overlooking Big Sur was serving the firefighters Beef BBQ Brisket, Ambrosia Burgers and gave out toothbrushes and shampoo.

The fire, dubbed "The Big Basin Fire" is several miles south of the cabin previously owned by Lawrence Ferlinghetti near Bixby Bridge where Jack Kerouac wrote the book "Big Sur".

As of now, the cabin seems to be out of danger.

There is a great article on the fire by Lisa M. Krieger of Media News.

Also check out Nepenthe’s web cam for photos....

We pray for all those effected by this disaster and thank the tireless firefighters and all the volunteers who are working so hard for all of us.

Jami and Randy

Copyright 2007 © Neal Cassady Estate, All rights Reserved