Neal Cassady
Overview
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation
of the 1950s and the psychedelic
movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac
's novel On the Road
.
Cassady was born to Maude Jean Scheuer and Neal Marshall Cassady in Salt Lake City, Utah
. After his mother died when he was ten, he was raised by his alcoholic father in Denver, Colorado
. Cassady spent much of his youth living on the streets of skid row
with his father, or spending time in reform school
.
As a youth, Cassady was repeatedly involved in petty crime.
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
of the 1950s and the psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
.
Cassady was born to Maude Jean Scheuer and Neal Marshall Cassady in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. After his mother died when he was ten, he was raised by his alcoholic father in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. Cassady spent much of his youth living on the streets of skid row
Skid row
A skid row or skid road is a run-down or dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population. The term originally referred literally to a path along which working men skidded logs. Its current sense appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest...
with his father, or spending time in reform school
Reform school
A reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...
.
As a youth, Cassady was repeatedly involved in petty crime.
