Jack Kerouac did great things: On the Road, The Dharma Bums… and essentially became the unoffical spokesperson for the Beat Generation and a sort of historical folk hero in St. Pete. True story: Kerouac did indeed write some pretty cool stuff. St. Pete barely factored into any of that at all —he moved here in 1964 and, by all accounts, was probably too drunk to notice he was in the Sunshine State. He died five years later, from complications of — shocker — drinking way too much. His literary forays in the ‘Burg include Satori in Paris (written in 1965), Vanity of Duluoz (written in 1968) and a smattering of poems. Just because he contributed precious little to the local literary scene doesn’t make his body of work any less awesome, though, so help celebrate his legacy at The Road to St. Petersburg: A celebration of Jack Kerouac and his local legacy. The evening includes music, film and readings from On the Road. May 12, 6 p.m. The Dali Museum, 1 Dali Blvd., St. Pete. 727-823-3767. thedali.org.
This article appears in May 12-19, 2016.