Beat News: October 31 1995

1. According to the New York Times, the writer Terry Southern has died. I’ve been meaning to write a page on him anyway, so here it is.

2. The new Jack Kerouac CD-ROM is finally out. There is a lot of fascinating material here — photos never before seen, many letters and manuscripts, the complete annotated text of ‘The Dharma Bums.’ I think all devoted Kerouac readers will find it valuable. Viking Penguin and author Ralph Lombreglia (who oversaw the project) should be commended for putting together a dignified and solid presentation. And it only crashes my PC about once every two hours, perhaps a duration record for a CD-ROM.

Only one negative note: with hundreds of photos, including many distantly related family members, why no picture or mention of estranged daughter Jan Kerouac? A good tribute like this is meant to last for the ages, and should strive to rise above family squabbles.

3. Literary Kicks was chosen by GNN as one of the nominees for Best of the Net 1995. I’m also psyched that my friends who run Enterzone were chosen as well.

Best of the Net is nice, but New York Press selected Literary Kicks as “Best Web Site Run By A New Yorker” in their annual Best-of issue, and that gives me special bragging rights here on the Manhattan streets. Thanks to everybody for giving me such positive feedback — I can’t pretend I don’t love it!

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Litkicks will turn 30 years old in the summer of 2024! We can’t believe it ourselves. We don’t run as many blog posts about books and writers as we used to, but founder Marc Eliot Stein aka Levi Asher is busy running two podcasts. Please check out our latest work!