The Nation - News from Dec. 31, 1986

The Lowell, Mass., City Council approved a commemorative park to honor hometown author Jack Kerouac, chronicler of the 1950s “Beat Generation,” despite arguments that the action glorifies drug abuse. The lone dissenter in the 7-1 vote, City Councilor M. Brendan Fleming, said approval of the park would honor Kerouac’s life style, which he finds objectionable. But supporters of the memorial for the late writer said it would serve as a remembrance of the several books he wrote about this rejuvenated mill town. No matter what kind of life he lived, they said, it is his writing that would be honored.