That was the way it was ...

An exemplary collection that most pinpoints the Lowell Jack Kerouac grew up in is an out-of-print collection titled That was the way it was ... A Selection of Charles G. Sampas' "Sampasscoopies Lowell History Columns" compiled by his daughter Marina Sampas Schell.

It is definitely worth tracking down and owning ... he was Lowell's first blogger!

SampasScoopies Remembers The Spotlight

This is one of the only contemporary mentions of what The Spotlight actually was, as printed and distributed by Leo Kerouac and remembered by Lowell's eminent historian of the time, Charles Sampas of Sampas Scoopies fame.

Lowell Sun (November 7, 1974)

I remember Friday nights at the Royal as especially important in my Lowelllifetime [sic], because after the movies, a weekly newspaper called The Spotlight was distributed. It was printed around the corner in the Spotlight Press, which was owned by Leo Kerouac and associates ... and it contained studio writeups about forthcoming  movies in the various local cinema citadels (Strand, Merrimack Square, Rialto, Crown, Jewel, etc.)  . . . as well as a humorous column by Campbell and Mulholland, who also wrote a column  in The Lowell High School Review. 

It was a cornucopia of information  about the show world for youngsters like me . . . and the local column with its puns and witty sayings was fabulously interesting . . . The movies were silent in that era . . . and th emusic was provided by a pianist who followed the music instructions provided with each movie . . . You could close your eyes and could visualize the scenes on the screen from the "tone" of the music . . . There was always a "chase" . . . the exciting scene which provided the finale.

Here below is the present state of the Royal Theatre, see more pics from this great site.

KEROUAC LEADING TRACK PERFORMER

The Lowell Sun and The Town and the City (June 15, 1950)

The Town and the City was first serialized in The Lowell Sun on June 15, 1950 and was ran through the summer to September 3, 1950. It wasn't excerpts, but the complete novel. One wonders what the incentive would have been for anyone to buy it in Lowell, and if it was serialized elsewhere.

Sorry for the poor quality, if only I had a scanner! I have tons of stuff lying around here . . .

Jack Kerouac Will Enter Either B.C. or Columbia

Popular biographical concensus has it that Jack Kerouac was indecisive about choosing between Boston College or Columbia College prior to entering Horace Mann. Many books will tell us that Kerouac chose Columbia, went to Horace Mann in Fall 1939 to prepare for Columbia. However, the truth is that Kerouac, at the close of his year at Horace Mann, he was still undecided.

Lowell Sun (June 21, 1940)

Jack Kerouac Will Enter Either B.C. or Columbia

LOWELL--- Johnny Kerouac, former Lowell high star athlete, is home after graduating from the Horace Mann earlier this week in New York city. Prior to the graduation exercises he was awarded a varsity baseball letter. During the season he played both in the outfield and infield for the Horace Mann school.

It was understood that he will enter either Columbia or Boston college in the fall. While he is an outstanding baseball and trackster, he is more prominent as a football player. Last fall he was a triple-threat star for the Horace Mann eleven. During the summer he will stay in Lowell and make-up his mind about his college career. He conferred with Lou Little of Columbia and Frank Leahy of B.C. and both were interested.

In the meantime he is seeking a berth with the Lowell-Twi-League or the Middlesex county league.

Kerouac and the Patucketville Jrs. of W.P.A. Baseball League

Visions of Gerard

from Ken Lopez Bookseller

NY, Farrar Straus, (1963). A volume in Kerouac's fictionalized autobiography -- the Legend of Duluoz Series. Inscribed by the author: "To Jamie/ the Angel/ from Jack Kerouac." With a "compliments of the Author" bookplate pasted above the inscription on which someone -- presumably Kerouac -- has typed "who says Hullo Jamie" below the word "Author." Jamie was, in 1963, the 4 year old son of Kerouac's former college buddy Ed White, who was fictionalized as Tim Gray in On the Road. Ed and Kerouac were introduced by White's roommate, Hal Chase, who also introduced Kerouac to Neal Cassady. Kerouac and Ed kept up a correspondence from 1947, the year after they met, to 1969, the year Kerouac died, exchanging nearly 90 letters and postcards over the course of their friendship. White was apparently the first person Kerouac wrote to in 1949 when his first novel, The Town and the City, was accepted for publication. A wonderful inscription, reflecting not only a longtime friendship -- and a multigenerational one at this point -- but also Kerouac's innate sweetness. Books inscribed by Kerouac are increasingly scarce in the market these days. Glue bleeding through bookplate, not affecting the inscription on the flyleaf; a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with several short edge tears, reinforced on the verso at the spine heel. [#029251] $12,500