Saw this in the daily ad in the New York Times, Arts section. Click here for the Jeopardy Clue of the Day, Category: American Authors.
Hint: It’s a Lowell guy.
February 26th, 2012
90th Edition of Kerouac’s Birthday Will Be Noted Here
See www.lowellcelebrateskerouac.org for the full schedule of activities from March 5 to March 12, organized as a weeklong tribute to the Lowell cultural powerhouse Jean-Louis Kerouac (1922–1969).
UMass Lowell is involved with several events including a special screening of the film “Lowell Blues” with the director Henry Ferrini on Monday, March 5, 3.30 pm, in Coburn Hall, Broadway St, South Campus; a talk by Dawn Ward, editor of a forthcoming collection of writings by young Kerouac, the most prominent of which is his merchant marine novel “The Sea Is My Brother,” being published in full for the first time–this program is on Thursday, March 8, 4 pm, in the O’Leary Library auditorium, Wilder St, South Campus; a conversation with John Sampas, Kerouac’s brother-in-law and literary executor for the past 20 years, also on Thursday, March 8, at 7.30 pm, in the National Park Visitor Center, 246 Market St downtown (in discussion with John will be UMass Lowell professors Michael Millner and Todd Tietchen); and a panel talk with Kerouac scholars and experts assessing “90 Years of Kerouac” on Saturday, March 10, 1 pm, at the Boott Mills Museum Events Center, 2nd floor, John St downtown.
February 24th, 2012
‘Howl in Lowell’
What do I think of “Howl in Lowell”…?
Just what the doctor ordered.
A huge push-back from the culture-makers and -consumers in the city who believe that more attention should be paid.
Logical next step, given the vast supply of cultural product in the city, and broad recognition that we have to be more intentional about boosting demand.
A not-to-be-overlooked consequence of the massing of creative people in one place (one cheer for public intellectual Richard Florida, and another cheer for Lowell City Hall leaders who went after the ”creative class” and made it City policy, people like John Cox, Armand Mercier, Grady Mulligan, Brian Martin, Bud Caulfield, Eileen Donoghue, Bernie Lynch, Adam Baacke, Colin McNiece, Jim Milinazzo, LZ Nunn, Rita Mercier, Matt Coggins, and others not listed here and to whom I send apologies because you know who you are. And let’s not forget the Lowell Plan Inc.’s sponsorship of the Creative Economy development plan a few years ago. Also, Karl Frey and Justin Mandelbaum of Vespera, who made Western Avenue an arts destination. Plus, the Parker Foundation trustees, who keep saying “yes” when seed grants are in critical need.)
Excited about the prospects for local cultural news in heavy rotation on the web.
When the influential but short-lived “Renovation Journal” published reviews of books by Lowell writers and cultural happenings in the city, I was encouraged to see the arts sector becoming more self-conscious. We cannot wait for a 21st-century Charles Dickens to stop by and write about the Space-Age version of “The Lowell Offering” in the “Next American Notes”—we have to report on ourselves for the world to see. Visiting journalists are always welcomed, like the two from France who were here this winter to do stories about Kerouac for tie-ins to the release of the “On the Road” movie in Europe.
When an ethnic enclave reaches a critical mass, you start to see the special grocery stores and restaurants; when an arts and heritage network expands to a certain size, maybe the ethnic market is a culture magazine.
Good luck to the Howlers. There’s no shortage of content.
February 19th, 2012
Upcoming Cultural Events at UMass Lowell
New World Jazz Composers Octet (Music on the Merrimack series), featuring UMass Lowell faculty member Walter Platt on trumpet and flugelhorn. Feb. 23, 7.30 pm, Durgin Concert Hall, 35 Wilder St, UMass Lowell South Campus. Free and accessible.
Columbinus, a performance by the Off-Broadway Players student theater group at UMass Lowell. Written by Stephen Karam and P.J. Paparelli. March 1, 2 & 3, 7.30 p.m.; March 3 & 4, 2 p.m, Comley-Lane Theater, 370 Broadway St. UMass Lowell South Campus. Tickets: $5 for students and seniors; $10 adults (special $1 student tickets on opening night). Advance tickets: Student Information Center, McGauvran Student Center, South Campus. Call 978-934-5001. Regular tickets: Comley-Lane box office one hour prior to performances. This is an accessible venue.
Eric Church, the Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour. March 2, 7.30 p.m., Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Way. See this exciting Grammy nominee whose latest studio release, “Chief,” topped the Billboard chart with more than 145,000 albums sold in the first week. Tickets are $42.50 and $34.75. Visit TsongasCenter.com to order.
“Lowell Blues,” a film screening and discussion of a lyrical film version of Jack Kerouac’s novel “Doctor Sax,” with director Henry Ferrini, the Spring 2012 Artist-in-Residence at the UMass Lowell Center for Arts and Ideas. March 5, 3.30 p.m., Coburn Hall, Room 210, Broadway St., UMass Lowell South Campus. Free, but note that this venue does not have an elevator. This event is part of the weeklong celebration Kerouac’s 90th birthday. For the full schedule, visit www.lowellcelebrateskerouac.org
Wind Ensemble in Concert, featuring winners of the Concerto Composition and music by Hindemith, Holsinger, and Margolis. March 5, 7.30 p.m., Durgin Concert Hall (see details above). Free and accessible.
The AD Show, featuring advertising campaign projects from the Design Studio students of UMass Lowell. March 5 – 30, Dugan Gallery, Dugan Hall, 883 Broadway, UMass Lowell South Campus (hours are Mon-Thurs, 11 a.m – 4 p.m.). Free and accessible.
Mothers of Rock Benefit Concert, a tribute to women in the music industry with performers from UMass Lowell and the community playing songs originally written and performed by women musicians. The event benefits the Music & Entertainment Industry Student Assoc. chapter at UMass Lowell and Girls Inc. of Lowell. March 6, 7.30 p.m., Durgin Concert Hall (see details above). Free and accessible.
“Fufu & Oreos,” a one-woman performance by Obehi Janice (who grew up in Lowell), “who contemplates her multiple identities (Nigerian-American, Black female, Christian) while reflecting on depression, identity, and faith with inventive prose and incredible wit.” March 8, 7 p.m., Alumni Hall, One University Ave., UMass Lowell North Campus. Free and accessible. This event is presented by the Multicultural Affairs Office on campus.
The Lindsays (Music on the Merrimack series), ”a husband-wife Celtic duo that for more than ten years has created an eclectic fusion of Irish ballads, traditional jigs and reels, and contemporary rock and folk for an honest acoustic delivery, with an edge. Their unapologetic songs explore humanity’s darker corners, while upbeat Irish traditional tunes celebrate the joy and intensity of life.” March 8, 7.30 p.m, Durgin Hall (see details above). Free and accessible.
For the full schedule of cultural activities at UMass Lowell this semester, visit www.uml.edu/artsandideas.
February 3rd, 2012
Kerouac at the Super Bowl in Spirit, Reports boston.com
Kerouac played football like he wrote, with a lot of power and invention. He was an athlete at the typewriter who could compose with speed and accuracy. It is fascinating to see how he keeps popping up in the news stream. Today, boston.com and the Bos. Globe include an arts note among the Super Bowl news from Indianapolis—the legendary scroll typescript of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” is featured in a big museum display in the city along with other cultural treasures from the collection of Colts owner Jim Irsay. The scroll photo illustrates the news note. Read about it here.
Jack Kerouac in the 1938 Lowell-Lawrence football game.
January 30th, 2012
‘Variety’ Writer Tweets About ‘On the Road’ Film
Jerry Cimino of the Beat Museum in San Francisco has an intriguing segment in his latest newsletter, which I’m reproducing in full because the effect would be lost in paraphrasing. So, courtesy of www.kerouac.com, here’s news about the now-completed “On the Road” film that is expected to premiere in France this spring. The tweets must be read from the bottom up.
In related news, a reporter from Radio France, the national public radio network, will be in Lowell tomorrow as a guest of the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitor Bureau to prepare a story about Kerouac and Lowell in connection with the film’s release in Europe.
B). Variety Says On The Road is Gonna Be Great
JOSH DICKEY WRITES FOR VARIETY and he was at the Sundance Film Festival last week and as he was
boarding the plane for his flight back to LA he sent out the following excited five tweets on Twitter. We copied them below and you need to read them from the bottom up:27 Jan Josh Dickey @Variety_JLD
• Reply
Retweet Favorite ·
And that’s all I know. (At least, that’s all I can tell you!) Hope it’s new to somebody; I don’t follow as close as some of you guys.27 Jan Josh Dickey @Variety_JLD
• Reply Retweet
Favorite ·
There were no problems w/ film; just awaiting the right moment to show & actively start seeking distribution.27 Jan Josh Dickey
@Variety_JLD
• Reply Retweet Favorite ·
… it would not be a stretch to see it open Cannes. Producers are thrilled with the result & eager to at least have it there. More …27 Jan Josh Dickey
@Variety_JLD
• Reply Retweet Favorite ·
OTR is finished. Took 1 year to edit, and is very, very good. According to a discerning and in-the-know viewer, it’s so good that …27 Jan Josh Dickey
@Variety_JLD
• Reply Retweet Favorite ·
ON THE ROAD fans, I have some cool news to share with you. Just got to the airport so stand by…
—————–
January 12th, 2012
Kerouac’s Typewriter at Nat’l Park Makes News
Read Rita Savard’s fine article about typewriters in our culture and, specifically, Jack Kerouac’s typewriter at the National Park’s Mogan Cultural Center museum exhibit about the immigrant history of Lowell. Filmmakers were in the city yesterday documenting the old Underwood typewriter on display with one of Kerouac’s backpacks on the first floor of the Mogan Center. See the article here, and get the Sun if you want more.
The typewriter at the Mogan Center was donated by Kerouac’s first wife, Edith Parker, now deceased. From her we learned that Kerouac used the typewriter when he was living with her and her family in Michigan after they were married in 1944. He was there only a short time. The machine is an Underwood portable, but not the Underwood referenced in the title of the book of early writings that I edited, “Atop an Underwood.” That machine was a rented typewriter that he used in an apartment that he rented in Hartford, Conn., when he was there in the fall of 1941. That’s the source of the “Atop an Underwood” title—he blasted out stories, poems, prose sketches, and other compositions in his room after coming home from a part-time job at a gas station. He writes about that episode in his life in “Vanity of Duluoz,” the novel he wrote most of on Sanders Avenue in the Highlands, when he lived in Lowell in 1967-68 with his wife of the time Stella Sampas Kerouac. Stella donated the green canvas backpack and camping materials that are on display with the typewriter at the Mogan Center. The actual backpack and its contents are described in Kerouac’s novel “Big Sur.” The Kerouac display case was included in the “Immigrants” exhibit when the Mogan Center opened in 1989, not only because they are Kerouac actifacts but also because they fit in with the other images and objects representing the social history of people from the many different ethnic groups who made Lowell their home.
See a photograph of the typewriter by Lorianne DeSabato on her Flickr site.
January 5th, 2012
‘On the Road’ Movie to Be Released in France in May
Thanks to the Beat Museum in San Francisco and its website www.kerouac.com, here’s news about a film release date for the movie version of Jack Kerouac’s legendary novel “On the Road.” The cast includes Amy Adams, who starred in “The Fighter” and Viggo Mortensen of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Here’s the notice from the Beat Museum in quotes:
1). MARK MAY 23, 2012 ON YOUR CALENDAR
The internet websites are abuzz with
the news that came via a tweet yesterday from the French Film Production Company
MK2. They announced the French Release of OTR the movie will be May 23rd. Now,
we have no inside info but we can read a calendar as well as anyone and the
Cannes Film Festival is May 16 – May 27. Hmmm. And Walter Salles has a long
history at Cannes with a number of his films as well as an OTR trailer at the
2011 festival. Double hmmmm. And MK2 is a French company. Triple
hmmmmm.
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