"Emotional intelligence work was key to whether I was living life well as a human being, in respect to specifically doing no harm to others, or to myself. So, from my perspective, a “life well lived” isn’t a matter of amassing wealth, fame, notoriety, power, 40 acres and a mule, a carbon-negative energy producing self-driving car or smart home, or having a few shelves, an entire library, devoted to your archives. A life well lived is one paying down…

"In regard to my views of the world, I think they were already formed when I discovered Kerouac and the Beats. By the time I'd graduated from high school in 1976, I'd already been sufficiently radicalized by then to feel myself firmly aligned politically with the counterculture. Then, during college, the writings of Kerouac struck me right away – On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and The Subterraneans were my starting points – as being on my wavelength. I…

Τribute to David Amram, one of the greatest and pioneer composers, conductors, and multi-instrumentalists of our time

David…

"I think it’s a kind of boomerang. Culture self-nourishes. Literature, especially poetry, has rhythm and rhythm is music; music is also made up of lyrics in the songs. It is almost a loving marriage. The symbiosis of music and literary tradition shook the world, something that reflects in the life and work of Kerouac."

Jorge "Flaco" Barral: The Art To Be Artist…

"This not only proves that the Blues spread from the Mississippi Delta to grow into a vital world music, but that a musical formula can work for everyone. Every person who is free, or who wants to be, identifies with the Blues."…

"All of the best literature is countercultural because it challenges commonly accepted ways of thinking and living."

Hassan Melehy: Langue, Poésie et Musique

Hassan Melehy is Professor of…

"In the counterculture at large it's the idea of independence — thinking for yourself  — expressing yourself — being yourself — in a long line from Neal & Allen to flower children to green hair to sex changes to hugely popular stoner films."

Brian Hassett: The Beat State Of…

"There are always new generations of young people – it used to be principally young men but it is increasingly, of course, young women, too – who want to shake off the shackles of convention and travel is a great way to physically and psychologically release yourself from those ties, discover unfamiliar cultures and even yourself."…

"In my darkest hours blues was a great friend. Blues is profound and spiritual, blues keeps you going when there’s nothing else."

Fred Voss: Walking With The Blues

Fred Voss…

"Jazz and Blues were an important part of the Beat movement and I think it has to do with the idea of a search, for the creative impulse to make something new and express your own ideas to the listener/reader."

Paul Rogers: On The Jazz Roads…

"Music and poetry can affect your senses tremendously. They can both bring back memories and vivid memories at that. They can transport you into your own thoughts where your senses come alive and further open your mind."

Jake St. John: Roads…

"People make music (or any art for that matter) to express themselves: their joy, their suffering, their love and their loss of love."

Zachary Richard: J’Aime La Vie

Cultural activist,…

"Beat writing was to a certain extent influenced by Black music and speech patterns in the manner of its composition which could be compared to oral improvisation, a kind of lively street corner jive."

Pat Nolan: Nualláin Roadhouse Blues…

"The Blues and Jazz touch deep emotionally resonant chords in anyone who is open to heart soul spirit sex. The Blues and Jazz are real vibrant life force energies."

Ron Whitehead: …

"The blues is very close to Beat writing because it does come from the depths of human feelings and experience and all of the things poor people have gone through." 

Gerald Nicosia: …

"The wandering muse, the irrepressible spirit of the human to resist oppression, suppression, & repression on so many levels of our spiritual existence."

Bart Plantenga: Literary Booze 'n' Roll

Bart…

"Sometimes, as cultural priorities become frozen and static, we need a few antinomians to shake things up and cause change."

John Tytell: When the Angels Sing

John…

"Jack Kerouac loved the sound of music – especially JAZZ music, and Be-Bop music in particular. He would type his books, at times, listening to jazz music."

George Nicholas Koumantzelis: …

"Passionate, Compassionate, never boring, brave and humble – these are some of the reasons that Jack Kerouac is a great man-he is alive through his writing, an eternal beat avatar to the truths contained in Every-man’s life!"

Cliff Anderson: Jack Kerouac, Beat…

"it was in Greece that I had my spiritual awakening. It was something about the light. The light and the colors..."

Helen Weaver: The Awakener

Helen Weaver was born in 1931 in Madison, Wisconsin and grew up…