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Neal and Carolyn Cassady Estate

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I am the middle child of Neal and Carolyn Cassady, born 1-26-1950. My father died in 1968 and my mom died in 2013.  When mom passed away, she was living in England. My husband, Randy, and I went there and shipped all of her many files home to California. She was an amazing pack rat.
I have correspondences from many people, both famous and infamous (Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg to name just 3). Her files include hundreds of letters from many people she knew in the 90 years of her extraordinary life.  I want to be able to archive everything so interested parties can enjoy and learn from her and Neal.
The funds will be used to preserve and archive the many letters, Carolyn's art work and journals, unpublished manuscripts, poems, photos, etc.
I have had the shipped boxes stored in my home and they need to be taken care of and catalogued. My husband and I are retired, so we can use the funds to buy archival supplies and begin to sort thru my parent's amazing legacy.
Besides being so grateful for the monetary help, I am hoping to meet and get to know the people that agree with me that this huge amount of material should be treasured and available for generations to come.
These files are a link to what was happening in the era of the Beat Generation and the hippie movement. My father was the "link" between the Beats and the Hippies, as well as being the muse for many writers during those years (and beyond).
Carolyn also had great literary friends in London, Jay and Fran Landesman, Peter Ackroyd, etc. whose letters are also included.
I am able to provide a mystery memento  for you if you can help me in my project.
All Best and Thanks,
Jami Cassady Ratto
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  • Anonymous
    • $150 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

Jami Cassady
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA

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