Dharma Beats
| 1998 Dharma Beats Roster | ||||||
| Pitchers | ||||||
| Burroughs | CCassady | JCassady | NCassady | DiPrima | Hansen | Johnson |
| McClure | Snyder | Welch | ||||
| Infielders/Outfielders | ||||||
| Asher | Carr | Corso | Cowen | Ferlinghetti | Haverty | Henderson |
| Huncke | Kaufman | Jack Kerouac | Jan Kerouac | Plymell | Rexroth | Whalen |
| Manager | Coaches | G.M. | Owner | Home Park | ||
| Kelly | Charters | Nicosia | SSampas | JSampas | Memere | DharmaDome |
| Italics indicates a rookie player | ||||||
The DHARMA BEATS represent individuals who in some way are connected to the Beat Generation. This season there are two rookies. Charles Plymell and Bob Kaufman are both Beat-related poets. Both poets were involved in the San Francisco literary "renaissance" that began at the end of the 1950s. The Beats were the best team in the cosmic Overleague last season winning 86 games and losing 76. They ultimately lost to the Pranktown Busriders in the 16th Cosmic Universal Series. The Dharma Beats are trying to unseat the Paradise Pisces as CBA's flagship team. Another appearance and a victory in the Cosmic Universal Series would certainly help them achieve that goal.
NOTES |
 |
| Secondbase | |
 Levi Asher*Beat Website Curator In the September 1996 issue of Internet Underground magazine, a reviewer writes that Levi Asher's Literary Kicks web site, online since 1994, is "the most thoughtful and detailed Beat site on the Web." | |
| 1998 Cosmic Player Plate | |
 | |
 | |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 William Burroughs1914-1997Writer
One of the most intriguing writers of the 20th century. Start with Junkie and then try
Naked Lunch. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Infield | |
 Lucien Carr*Muse/Newspaper Editor It was the Brahms music from Lucian Carr's college dormitory room that caught Allen Ginsberg's ear. Through Carr, Ginsberg met Kerouac. Lucian Carr became an early part of Beat mythology when he killed David Kammerer in what was described as a murder of "passion." | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Carolyn Cassadyborn 1923Writer Neal Cassady's 2nd Wife Her memoir Off the Road is the story of her marriage to Neal Cassady. Cassady was one of the four main icons of the Beat Generation. She was also intimate with Jack Kerouac another icon of the movement. Neal was not a particularly good family man and Mrs. Cassady's story explains why. Her memoir also offers interesting insights from a woman who was intimately involved with the boys club that was the Beat Generation. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 John Cassadyborn 1951Musician Neal Cassady's Son "As far as how I feel about him, I just loved him like a Dad. It didn't upset me about all these things. In fact, I'm kind of in awe of the guy, being everywhere at once and you know his prowess with women. I can't really prove most of that, it's just like in legend and song type of thing. Every woman I've talked to that knew him just loved him." --John Cassady talking about his father, Neal Cassady | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Neal Cassady1926-1968Writer/Muse "The Holy Goof"..."Sir Speed Limit"..."Dean Moriarty"...Neal Cassady had many names and in a relatively short life he was able to metaphorically carry the counter-cultural torch from the Beat Generation of the 1950s to the hippies of the 1960s. In the late 1940s he drove Jack Kerouac across the country in a new Hudson sedan and then more then fifteen years later he drove Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters across the continent in a 1939 International Harvester school bus. More a muse than a writer his influence on Kerouac and other Beat writers was significant. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Thirdbase | |
 Gregory Corsoborn 1930Poet A childhood of foster homes and juvenile institutions prepared Corso to become a street-wise poet who early on understood the "spontaneous bop prosody" concept as articulated by Kerouac. Corso is today considered one of the "major" Beat Generation poets. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Outfield | |
 Elise Cowen1933-1962Poet She grew up on the West Side of New York City, was friends with Allen Ginsberg and became part of the North Beach (San Francisco) beat scene. She also jumped out of her parents New York apartment, killing herself on the street below. She was one of several casualties that haunted the Beat Generation. | |
| Official Record Not Avaliable | |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Diane DiPrimaborn 1934Poet Steven Watson in his Birth of the Beat Generation history refers to DiPrima as the "archetypal Beat woman." Watson then describes the characteristics of the archetype: "[A]bsolute independence. wide sexual experience from mid-teens on, familiarity with drugs, the Village, jazz, and bohemian style." | |
| Pitcher | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Outfield | |
 Lawrence Ferlinghettiborn 1919Poet One of the leaders of the San Francisco literary renaissance that, because of mutual associations and friendships, blended with the Beats in the late 1950s and early 1960s. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Diana Hansen*Neal Cassady's 3rd Wife Neal left Carolyn Cassady to take up with Diana, a New York-bred model. And although he ultimately left her, they had a son together. Initially the boy was named after Neal, but later his name was changed to Curtis. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Catcher | |
 Joan Haverty1931-1990Jack Kerouac's 2nd Wife Jack Kerouac, despite having three wives, was not the marrying type. His mother may have seen to that. Together Joan and Jack had a daughter Jan, who Jack spent most of his life avoiding. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Firstbase | |
 LuAnne Hendersonborn 1930Muse/Neal Cassady's 1st Wife In the famous car trip described in Kerouac's On the Road Luanne is the woman sitting between Jack and Neal. She was a teenager when she married Neal Cassady and for a little while she was along for the ride. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Outfield | |
 Herbert Huncke1915-1996Writer Huncke is credited with providing the term "beat" to the Beat Generation boys he met through William Burroughs. A street citizen and poet, Huncke's use of the term surely meant "beat" as in down and out. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Joyce Johnsonborn 1935Write/Muse Joyce Glassman Johnson wrote the very perceptive memoir, ironically entitled Minor Characters. She was Kerouac's lover at the time fame slapped him in the face. Her story is a contribution to the study of women and their impact on the boys club known as the Beat Generation. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Outfield | |
 Bob Kaufman1925-1986Poet The son of an African-American Catholic and an Orthodox Jew, Kaufman became a significant force in the West Cost literary renaissance of the late 1950s and early 1960s. At his funeral, his ashes were scattered in San Francisco Bay to the tune of Charlie Parker's jazz classic "Just You, Just Me." | |
| Rookie | |
| Leftfield | |
 Jack Kerouac1922-1969Writer/Poet Father of the Beat Generation Practioner and theorist of the literary technique known as "spontaneous bop prosody." Akin to automatic writing and jazz, Kerouac was a specialist in this form of writing that defines much of the Beat Generation aesthetic | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1998 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Kerouac Estate Controversy | |
| Kerouac Chronology Plate | |
| Thirdbase | |
 Jan Kerouac1952-1996Writer Jack Kerouac's daughter Joan Haverty, Kerouac's 2nd wife gave birth to his only (known) child. He spent much of his life denying the child was his but ultimately a court of law using science (a blood test) settled the matter. Father and daughter met only twice but Jan followed in her father's footsteps and became a writer. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Michael McClureborn 1932Poet McClure's high school companion, film maker Bruce Conner introduced McClure to Abstract Expressionism, the reigning painting style of the 1950s. From high school he went to art school in San Francisco, studied poetry with Robert Duncan, met Kenneth Rexroth and Allen Ginsberg and became a major force in the San Francisco literary renaissance. McClure was one the "six" poets who read at the famous Six Gallery reading of October 7, 1955. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Outfield | |
 Charles Plymellborn 1935Writer If you don't know Plymell, start figuring him out now. He was part of the San Francisco literary scene in the 1950s, and he wrote the bohemian literary classic The Last of the Moccasins. He's an important Beat-related poet named by the World Book in 1976 as the "poet most likely to succeed." Here's vintage Plymell in an interview: "[W]ith the Internet helping to make all words more democratic, somewhat like John Cage's notes, it's very difficult to find stuff that knocks your socks off, and it may be the end to poetry as we've known it; yet, people think that there must be a reason to read famous poets, because if they don't, then they may not be hip, and so on. In other words, the audience is made before the work." It is probably considered hip to be reading Plymell right now. | |
| Rookie | |
| |
| Outfield | |
 Kenneth Rexroth1905-1982Poet Father of the West Coast or San Francisco literary renaissance of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Rexroth's relationship with the Father of the Beats, Jack Kerouac, was problematic on a personal level. They didn't like each other. Rexroth particularly objected when Kerouac flirted with Rexroth's teenage daughter. Later the two had trouble when Rexroth thought Kerouac was in cahoots with the poet Robert Creeley in Creeley's affair with Rexroth's wife. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Gary Snyderborn 1930Poet Along with Phillip Whalen (they were roomates at Reed College in Oregon), Gary Snyder represents the Zen side of the Beat Generation. It is this Zen strand that got bequeathed to the hippies through Allen Ginsberg's poetry and especially Kerouac's novel Dharma Bums. Jaffe Ryder represents Snyder in that novel. Snyder was also one of the six poets who read at the famous "Six Gallery" reading on October 7, 1955. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Pitcher | |
 Lew Welch1926-1971Poet Lew Welch also drove Kerouac across the country, but this was years and miles after Jack's earlier trek with Neal Cassady. Welch, a sensitive but little read poet, disappeared into the woods one day. He is presumed to be dead, but no body has ever been found. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Infield | |
 Phillip Whalenborn 1923Poet Whalen went to Reed College in Oregon with poets Gary Snyder and Lew Welch. He was one of the six poets who read at the famous "Six Gallery" reading on October 7, 1955. A Zen Buddhist, Whalen was called by his friend Jack Kerouac "Buddha Red-Ears." | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| Field Manager | |
 Robert Kellyborn 1934Poet Considered a poet's poet, Kelly has been writing poetry, (lots of it, he has over 20 volumes published) and teaching poetry at Bard College, a small pastoral liberal arts college in New York's Hudson Valley. He has written so much it's difficult to decide where to start. We suggest either The Loom or The Mill of Particulars. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Field Manager Plate | |
| Coach | |
 Ann Charters*Kerouac Biographer She wrote the first, but not the best biography of Jack Kerouac. She also has edited his letters for publication and put together the Portable Beat Reader. | |
| |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Coach Plate | |
| Coach | |
 Gerald Nicosia*Kerouac Biographer To date, Nicosia's Memory Babe remains the best and most comprehensive Kerouac biography. Nicosia is also embroiled in the Kerouac literary estate controversy. He's been battling with John Sampas who is the current executor. Nicosia, among other things, claims that Kerouac's mother's will was forged therefore casting doubt on Sampas' legal rights to the multimillion dollar national treasure that is Kerouac's literary artifacts. | |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Coach Plate |
| Coach | |
 Stella Sampasdied 1990Jack Kerouac's 3rd Wife The reason for this marriage may have more to do with Kerouac's mother, Gabrielle then the other two earlier marriages. Kerouac needed someone to take care of his aging mother. Stella was the sister of his boyhood friend, Sebastian Sampas. It has been suggested by Kerouac's biographer, Gerald Nicosia, that Kerouac was planning to divorce Stella shortly before he died unexpectedly in 1969. | |
| |
| |
| 1996 Cosmic Player Plate | |
| General Manager | |
 John Sampas*Executor of Jack Kerouac Estate A younger brother of Stella Sampas, he was Kerouac's brother-in-law. Because Kerouac left everything he owned to his mother, who outlived him, and his mother left everything she owned to her daughter-in-law, Stella, who died in 1990, John has become the Sampas family member most responsible for Kerouac's literary estate. Kerouac biographer Gerald Nicosia disputes the Sampas family's claim to the estate. For more details see theKerouac Literary Estate Controversy plate. | |
| No Cosmic Record | |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Plate | |
| Owner | |
 Gabrielle Kerouacdied 1972Jack Kerouac's mother Whenever Jack Kerouac got burned out on the road of life he would return to his mother. Gabrielle Kerouac was devoutly religious, overbearing and intolerant of the generation her son had sired. She once threatened Allen Ginsberg that she would call the FBI and tell them about his homosexuality if Ginsberg didn't leave her son alone. | |
| No Cosmic Record | |
| |
| 1997 Cosmic Owner Plate | |
| Home Field | |
 DharmaDomeCapacity31,428 seats | |
 |
Related Beat Generation Links
- The Beat Generation Archives
This is Colin Pringle's site and it is notable for its well-administered links to many other up and running Beat sites. Mr. Pringle saves us from having to create a long list of links here.
- Literary Kicks
Levi Asher's site has been online since 1994. This is an excellent resource for learning about what the Beat Generation was and what personalities contributed to the movement. The site's accuracy is to be applauded. It's one of the few to get the date of the famous "Six Gallery" reading correct.
- Beat Generation FAQ and Resources
Marcus Williamson has begun the process of organizing and indexing the internet's wealth of Beat Generation information. At the moment the Frequently Asked Questions page is organized into several categories including "Events", "Chronology", "People" and "Links". There are also sections on Beat publishers and bookstores. The list of Beat "People" includes 23 names, but he's missing a few, like Charles Plymell. The last update to the site was listed as December 23, 1997.
- The Blacklisted Journalist
Al Aronowitz has been writing internet columns since 1995. In its current organization seven of the 20-plus entries deal explicitly with Beat Generation issues. The writer knew many of the important Beat figures and he likes to write a lot and he has lots of opinions. We particularly liked Column 24 written 8-1-97 about Joyce Johnson and a "Certain Party" in 1957 that gathered together Beat writers and their friends.
- BEAT-L Listserv Mailing List
This is a link to information about a very interesting and rather high volume internet mailing list. BEAT-L is run by the very decent Bill Gargan who keeps a feisty list running smoothly.NOTE: On March 27, 1998 the BEAT-L list was shut down. The reason for the list's demise was the acrimony created by the the Kerouac Literary Estate controversy. Bill Gargan, the list owner, wrote the following in his farewell message to the list members:
...things have become impossible because of the Kerouac estate feud. I've done everything in my power to try to keep the list free of the acrimony associated with this dispute but it seems I've failed. My personal mail in recent days has been full of complaints and attacks from both sides. Frankly, I no longer have the time or the energy to devote to this conflict.
This list will be missed.
616
