This morning I visited the NY Public Library on 42nd St. with the intention of visiting the Berg Collection on the third floor. I had made no appointment and thought I might be able to ‘talk’ my way in. The Berg Collection is the finest collection of Jack Kerouac works and personal stuff. I knew I might be in trouble when I saw the sign that said: “ring buzzer for entry”. I pushed the button and from behind a large desk in the back of the room a person emerged, looking ever so scholarly, in a rumpled sort of way. He opened the door just enough for me to start a conversation regarding the Kerouac Collection. He then, in a very quiet and polite voice told me the collection could only be viewed by appointment and only for scholarly reasons approved by the curator. Since my interest was of a personal nature he told me it would not qualify as “scholarly”, even though, at times in my life, I have felt a weakness for things of a scholarly nature. My second strategy was in the form of a plea: I am from Seattle, which is a long ways from New York, and could an exception be made?” Apparently my only recourse would be to email the Curator and plead my case with him/her. I politely thanked the young fellow for his time and patience and walked away thinking-how ironic? The one writer in post modern America that was summarily lambasted by the scholars and academicians for decades and never found acceptance in life or death, whose work now is only viewable by the scholarly set of today. Scholars and critics, the bane of Kerouacs professional life.
I am reminded of a quote from Henry Miller:’Who cares what the jackals think once the lion has made his kill’?
I would hope Jack Kerouac is getting a laugh over the idea that his original works and effects are only available to those whose scorn he endured while living.