ABSTRACT
January 17, 2008, the New York Public Library held a gala event as the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the publication of On the Road, which took place throughout 2007. The gala was hosted by James Irsay, the owner of the original Scroll for On the Road. The author was invited to participate, and he was able to see Jack get his final due in a spectacular evening. Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane shared with me their interest in the Egyptian calendar from 4236 bc, based on the stars and the moon's relative position to the earth. They each talked to me about that over the years. As a unique part of the festival, there was a program celebrating Jack's involvement with Buddhism that featured performers from the local Angkor Dance Troupe, representing Lowell's burgeoning Asian community. Poets and religious leaders from that community, speaking in their native languages, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian, planned to honor Jack.
