Have any Beat literature fans been following this story? This famous letter, from Neil Cassady to Jack Kerouac, was discovered intact some years ago albeit presumed lost for many decades. It will be auctioned soon by Christies.
This is a major find in American letters, whatever one thinks of the Beat legacy.
I don't in any way doubt the authentication done which must have been rigorous, but any ideas out there why Allen Ginsberg wasn't able to get the letter back from the publisher in whose records it languished for so long? From what I've read, Allen had sent the letter to the publisher, in hopes of publication for Neil, after his friend Gerd Stern, to whom he had loaned it, gave it back to him. Kerouac had given it to Allen initially.
It just seems strange to me Allen would have forgotten such a thing. Yet he must have (I guess) since he was famously supportive of his colleagues into the 60s, even after Kerouac soured on him due to his politics and the public persona he was developing. That letter would have helped Jack and Neil in the 60s, both creatively and financially, I can't imagine Allen wouldn't have done everything possible to get it to them despite the rift that had developed with Kerouac, had he been able.
Any thoughts/ideas?
Joan Anderson Letter to be Auctioned
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