By Jennifer Ciotta

Today, within Lowell National Historic Park lies Kerouac Park, which has the Jack Kerouac Commemorative.  It contains his writing excerpts on granite columns with benches for sitting and reading.  Other paraphernalia on display includes the authors backpack and typewriter.  A path outlying Jacks Roman Catholic and Buddhist spiritual quests has a cross and series of circles.  Another park hotspot is the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, complete with 1920s power weave looms, 88 still in operation, and video programs about the Industrial Revolution.  For educational outings, children can be provided with aprons and timecards and work their way through a series of hands-on activities to learn how cotton is made into cloth.  Adding to the Industrial Revolution feel, the park has textile mills, worker rooms and nineteenth century commercial buildings.  In Kerouacs The Town and the City, he creates the fictional Galloway, based on Lowell, since he sites the citys thriving textile industry and power canals, which still run through the park today.

A Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival is an annual event in which the whole community participates.  Usually held in the fall, ideal for observing the beautiful New England leaves, the festivities begin with a 5K road race.  The University of Massachusetts hosts a Beat Literature conference, while the Beat classic movie, narrated by Kerouac, Pull My Daisy has a free showing.  A series of readings by featured authors and poets take center stage, and a night walking tour named Ghosts of the Pawtucketville Night draws a crowd. 

Lastly, a visit to Kerouacs grave is a must for Beat fanatics.  Located in Edson Cemetery, the grave is a simple marker, where he is buried with wife Stella.  The marker, shaded by a pretty rose bush, fits as a peaceful end to a spiritually-guided life.

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