Graphic memoir: Portrait of Dean as a young boy
Neal Cassady’s daughter Cathy and artist Rick Bleier are bidding to publish a new illustrated biography of the early years of Kerouac’s great friend
THE BEATS AND biographical histories are closely intertwined. There have been well over 20 such Kerouac titles and his best friend Neal Cassady, Dean Moriarty of On the Road, has also been the subject of several biographers’ attention. But a fascinating new project, well in development, looks set to cast new light on Jack’s pal in a way not yet seen.
Cassady’s daughter Cathy and artist Rick Bleier have been working on a venture to bring Neal’s boyhood to life, utilising the graphic novel format to present the story of those difficult early times with his father on the streets and in the flophouses of Denver in the interwar years. Uniquely, it aims to be both biographical and autobiographical, drawing on text from the the man’s own memoir of that challenging period.
Pictured above: Rick Bleier’s finely-wrought portrait of the adult Neal Cassady, an illustration from the planned graphic biography Young Neal Cassady
To date, while the publication has been progressing well, Cathy and Bleier are yet to identify the right publisher to take the project forward. In recent days, Rock and the Beat Generation has had the exclusive opportunity to speak to both daughter and artist about the book in preparation to draw attention to their efforts.
The purpose of the conversations is twofold: to share news of the intended plan with a potential readership but also to test the waters. Is there a book company out there on the lookout to take on this original and intriguing concept? We have also been granted access to some of the images from the planned production to give a flavour of the appearance of the book in preparation.
INTERVIEW ONE – Cathy Cassady
Biography: The eldest child of Neal and Carolyn, Cathy Cassady was born in San Francisco in 1948. She has worked as a. medical assistant, qualified with a BSc in Exercise Physiology and an MSc in Worksite Wellness Management and has operated as a fitness professional and health educator. Her essay ‘Down Mexico way: Memories of a father’ was published by R&BG in February.
You are aiming to create a book based on your father's writing and life. Tell us something about your plans – for example, what text or other sources will you draw on?
Young Neal Cassady is the working title of the graphic memoir we hope to publish. I am collaborating with the brilliant writer and artist, Rick Bleier, who lives in NYC. We are using Dad’s own memoir of his childhood, The First Third, as the main resource – the 50th anniversary edition was published by City Lights Books in 2021.
Rick will include text in his illustrations to move the story along, and I will be adding text from Dad's book as well to help put the story panels in context. I would like to use as much of Dad’s own words to tell the story as possible. His use of language was unique and I feel should be included.
Will it, in essence, be a biographical portrait of Neal Cassady?
Essentially, this book will cover two formative years when my father was six to eight years old. His mother had a total of ten living children, Dad being the ninth. Dad’s mother was overwhelmed, so the family split up from 1932 to 1934. My father accompanied his alcoholic father to live in the slums of downtown Denver during those years.
What has inspired you to use a graphic novel format? There have been a few attempts to tell the story of the Beats through this kind of publication. Were they a factor in your deciding to do this?
Short answer, Yes! Longer answer: I first had the idea to tell about my Dad’s childhood in the graphic format style after I saw a graphic novel of Ginsberg’s ‘Howl' in a bookstore years ago. I was intrigued and I thought The First Third would lend itself to such a format.
I had worked in a library for a few years and remembered that graphic novels were checked out often, but I didn’t realise until recently how popular that style is becoming. I have since purchased and enjoyed reading Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoirs and Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens: A Graphic History. And, of course, it was encouraging to see Harvey Pekar et al’s The Beats: A Graphic History written in that format.
What are your hopes, intentions and motivations for trying to create a book based on Neal?
This project is my attempt to explain my father’s behaviour. I want readers to see what Dad’s traumatic childhood did to him. I want readers to see how important it is for us to be aware of how events in our childhoods affect us. And I want readers to get some insight into what made Dad tick.
I have spent my entire life attempting to solve the puzzle that was Dad. His behaviour ranged from compassionate and caring to downright cruel and thoughtless and, at times, violent. He had a suicidal depression, was addicted to everything possible to be addicted to, and I feel he had a raging case of ADHD for which he may have initially tried to self-medicate with drugs. I know when I was diagnosed at age 40 and was given an Rx [a prescription] for Dexedrine, it calmed me down tremendously. I had been self-medicating with caffeine for years. But I digress. (If I ever write my own memoir, that will be the title!)
Pictured above: Rick Bleier’s panels capture the older Cassady speeding in auto heaven
Dad has been called a 'sociopath' and a 'psychopath' and everything in between. I have been researching how childhoods such as my father’s, which was filled with trauma, neglect, and abuse, affect us as we become adults. His behaviour is typical of how that sort of childhood – plus an addiction gene pool – changes the brain’s wiring, and how a child who essentially raises himself, as my dad did, learns to do what is necessary to survive.
People remarked on my Dad’s charisma and charm and how he’d make them feel as if they were the most important person alive – when he wanted something from them. I feel that is the result of Dad having to find ways to survive on his own while growing up.
As Rick says, 'Neal had a brilliant mind and a gentle soul.' I agree. I see that gentle soul in all the Cassady men, and I feel that sensitive souls often resort to drugs and alcohol to deal with the challenges in life, as Dad, his father and Kerouac did. I will be writing these thoughts in an introduction to the book.
How did you identify an artist to take this project on?
I was extremely fortunate to open The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats, edited by Holly George-Warren and published in 1999 by Rolling Stone Press, and see Rick Bleier’s wonderful story 'Visions of Paradise: Kerouac in NYC' (pp. 10-21).
I had asked a couple of other artists over the years if they’d be interested in illustrating a graphic memoir based on Dad’s childhood, but, for various reasons, they didn’t work out. I could not be more pleased that Rick has agreed to help with this project. He is a Beat scholar and fan and I feel his art is perfect for telling Dad’s story. Rick is also an excellent creative writer who loves to play with words, as my Dad did and I do. The text accompanying his sketches is always right on.
Have you attracted publisher interest to date?
There is one publisher who would like to see a completed manuscript, which we don’t quite have yet. And everyone we know in the literary world has expressed interest and has been encouraging, but we have had no other publishers come forward so far.
Have you some idea of the publisher you would like to work with?
Not really. I would like to work with a traditional publisher or hybrid. I am hoping to have Rick’s talent recognised and I feel the traditional publisher might have access to a wider audience and would be able to have this book reviewed and stocked in bookstores and libraries. I worked with a small press for our first book – Mom's manuscript Travel Tips for the Timid – and self-published the second book of her poetry, Poetic Portrait: Carolyn Cassady Revealed in Poetry and Prose, but I'd like to see what it's like working with a more traditional publisher.
I am in the process of writing a book proposal to send to publishers. I will start with the ones that have published in the graphic style first and then those that have published Beat books. This is a small literary niche, but the fans are loyal and new generations are discovering the Beats all the time. I am constantly amazed where mention of Dad and his cronies shows up. The Beats never die!
INTERVIEW TWO – Rick Bleier
Biography: A native New Yorker, artist-writer Rick lives in Queens. He has been a great fan of the Beat writers for over 50 years. After reading both On the Road and The Dharma Bums at age 18, he knew that his work was going to be largely about the confluence of ‘Word + Image…AND adventure’. His illustrative work has appeared in multiple publications and places including the Village Voice, Saturday Night Live and Sesame Street. His comic strip ‘Ral Boomer’ appeared in the news dailies the Advocate and the Greenwich Times for 10 years.
How did you become involved in this Neal Cassady project? How did you meet Cathy?
We actually met on Facebook. I had posted some of my illustrations based upon Jack Kerouac's writing on a Beat group wall. Cathy saw the work, and contacted me about the possibility of a graphic novel adaptation of Neal's autobiographical The First Third.
The idea developed from there and the rest, as they say, is history. Cathy is a wonderful person with a huge heart; we hit it off immediately. A collaborative effort made in heaven!
Are you a fan of – or do you have an interest in – Kerouac, the Beats and, of course, Cassady himself?"
Oh yes! I've been fascinated by the Beat writers – their work and sundry picaresque ‘road’ adventures, struggles, and ethos – since I was a teenaged boy. Their writing has impacted greatly upon my work as an artist. I've been illustrating Kerouac's work for about 50 years.
I'm looking forward to seeing sample illustrations, but tell me a bit about the way you are approaching this challenge.
Cathy really wanted to let people know how a childhood in extremis could impact a boy's future. ‘Child is father to the man’. I see Young Neal Cassady as the story of a remarkable boy exposed to excoriating, ofttimes traumatic events, a survival story on a daily basis.
Throughout this work, I've been thinking of Twain & Dickens, both of whom wrote so emotively about children in trouble. I'm trying to achieve a kind of burnished, ‘old-timey’ look for the work. To that end, I'm using a detailed, crosshatched ‘pen & ink/pencil shading’ technique. I see the scenes in my head, like scenes from a black-&-white movie...
Pictured above: The boy Neal Cassady with father and assorted street characters captured by Rick Bleier
Have you drawn graphic novels before? Or is this your first task of this kind?
I had two graphic ‘Novellas’, about Kerouac's adventures in New York & San Francisco, published in The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats. I continue to work on the aforementioned long-gestating graphic novel about Kerouac, as well as an illustrated autobiography about my own adventures in The Sixties...
Tell me about earlier ventures to which you have turned your attention as an artist.
My work has been largely about the confluence of word + image, as well as the investigation of the soulfulness and character of the beaten-down & marginalised. To this end, I've filled dozens & dozens of sketchbooks with portraits of homeless, disenfranchised men and women.
I've also taught painting and drawing for kids and adults, at Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, Bronx Community College, Harlem Arts Carnival, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, & The 92nd St Y.
Notes: You can find out more about Neal Cassady at nealcassadyestate.com and Cathy Cassady and her project here: cathycassady.org
Rick Bleier’s Instagram page is here: https://www.instagram.com/rickbleier/?hl=en
If you are a publisher with an interest in Young Neal Cassady as a potential project to add to your list, please contact Rock and the Beat Generation via: simonwarner@substack.com
What a fine pair of interviews, and such wonderful illustrations. The premise of this book is marvelous and its conception as a graphic novel is brilliant. Exploring Neal Cassady's childhood and its function as a formative influence on his later behavior is so very needed. I hope that this project finds an excellent publisher and wide distribution. It promises to be a significant contribution.