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00 I H 1 ^ T -- I o CM CO Marta Marychuk Reporter mmarychuk@oakvillebeaver.com Artscene "lConnected to your Community" Jack Kerouac, N eal Cassady Ride A gain a t OPL -- 5 ^ oo H J 5 ^ E 8 o J2 o | g % Brian Hassett and original Merry Prankster George W alker present Ja c k Kerouac and Neal Cassady Ride Again on Thursday, Nov. 9 from 7-8 p.m. at the Iroquois Ridge Branch of the Oakville Public Library (O PL). Hassett, who lives in Bronte when he's nor on the road, is a Kerouac scholar and performer and, together with Walker, they will present excerpts, discuss the Beat Generation and Merry Pranksters, include some improvisation, and have a Q & A session. The show is a com bination o f standup comedy and improv in character as Kerouac, says Hassett. "It's definitely theatre. It's dehnitely funny," he adds. "W e're going to kill it in that place," says Hassett, referring to newly-renovated Iro quois Ridge Branch. Hassett has had a long relationship with Ja c k Kerouac, an American novelist, who is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Hassett was attending New York Univer sity (NYU) in 1980 w hen he becam e inter ested in Kerouac, and started to look for his book On the R oad, w hich Hassett calls the "bible of the Beat G eneration." The odyssey to find On the R oad led Has sett into a bookstore, where he found a post er o f social activist Abbie Hoffman, writer Timothy Leary and Ken Kessy, who wrote One Flew Over the C u ckoo' s Nest, who were appearing at the Ja ck Kerouac On The Road Conference in Boulder, Colo. Brian Hassett and original Merry Prankster George Walker are pictured in front of the psychedelic painted school bus. |Sky Lyons photo into The H itchhiker' s G uide to Ja c k K erouac The Adventure of the B oulder `8 2 On The R oad C onference --Finding K erouac, K esey and The G rateful D ead A live & R ockin ' in the Rockies. "After that, I've been up to my eyeballs," says Hassett, who always wanted to be a writer. Fortunately, he had a tape recorder and camera with him at the time to record this m om ent in history. Kerouac befriended Allen Ginsberg, a Columbia student, and W illiam Burroughs, another college dropout and aspiring writer. Together, these three friends would go on to becom e the leaders of the Beat Generation of writers. Kerouac died in 1969. Hassett says his wife at the time, Stella Sampas, wouldn't re lease any more of Kerouac's work. W hen she died in l9 9 0 , Hassett says there was resur gence in Kerouac's work. T hat's when Hassett started doing Kerouac-them ed shows. Hassett first met original Merry Prankster George W alker in 1982 at the historic Ja ck Kerouac O n The Road 2 5th Anniversary7 Conference. The Merry Pranksters were co horts and followers of Ken Kesey, who trav eled across the United States in a psychedelic painted school bus. W alker and Hassett met up again in 2 0 1 6 lor the G oing F u rther him, w hich they both appear in. They7 next came together at the Merry7 Prankster / Twanger Plunker Family Reunion in May 20 1 7 . The pair have been partners ever since. Hassett says the relationship he has with W alker is "funny, cool and authentic," which is som ething the audience can relate to. The pair will be performing at the Ju n c tion City Music Hall, 2 9 0 7 Dunclas St. W , in Toronto Friday, Nov. 3. The event at OPL is free, and no registra tion is required. In addition to a question- and-answer ses sion, Hassett will be available to talk about his new book How the Beats B egat the P rank sters. Universe was telling him something It was like the universe was telling him something. Hassett, who was 21 at the time, hitch hiked to Colorado, managed to get an all access pass and finagled to being Kessy's handler. W hile at the conference, somebody posted a picture to Facebook about the Beat Gen eration celebrities -- and that was the begin ning of Hassett's career. W hat began as post on Facebook turned | H A XELL LAW [| o E ag p O a-aR saasaB s `OtepQsrofiHP ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST EJQQCfflDDgjtojLB townetrees Save the F A L L I i HST! SPECIAL i I Any tree c a re s e rv ic e I One coupon per customer. Valid only with this coupon. Not valid with any other special offer. This coupon has no cash value. Limited one tim e offer. to w n e tre e s me PROFESSIONAL TREE CARE