Get on the road and join Preserve the "Burg for a very special Porch Party at the Historic Jack Kerouac house! In June, City Council unanimously approved the owners’ and Preserve the 'Burg's joint application to designate the Kerouac House, located at 5169 10th Avenue N. in the Disston Heights neighborhood, as a local historic landmark. This highly anticipated Porch Party is an exclusive invitation for our community to celebrate this newly-established literary landmark, which had been off limits for more than 50 years.The evening will feature performances by the Al Downing Tampa Bay Jazz Association, which will be accompanied by recitations from writers and poets brought to you by St. Pete’s premiere writers’ collective, Wordier Than Thou. Performances are generously supported by Radio St. Pete 96.7 FM.
Dr. Ken Burchenal will lead tours of the home throughout the evening. Dr. Chrissy Auger, founder of
Auger, ink, will speak on Kerouac's enduring literary legacy and share some intriguing anecdotes about her stint working as a professional writer while living at Jack’s House during the pandemic. The two literary scholars share a mutual affinity for the written word, and as PhDs and former professors, look forward to sharing intimate information about the significance of Jack’s House and his life in St. Petersburg with our engaged citizenry. Our community is deeply indebted to Dr. Ken Burchenal, and his wife, Gina, who stepped up and bought the house to ensure it is preserved for perpetuity.
This Porch Party is our way to celebrate the Burchenals’ commitment to Kerouac’s legacy and honor their recent award, all while welcoming the public to a previously inaccessible landmark, which had for years been off limits. In 1967, Kerouac, along with his wife and widowed mother relocated from New York to St. Pete. After residing in a neighboring property, the trio moved next door, to 5169 10th Ave., where they resided until Jack's death at St. Anthony's Hospital in 1969. Perhaps best known as a pioneer of the Beat Generation, Kerouac’s second novel, 1957’s On the Road, made the writer an icon of 1950’s and 1960’s counter-culture, and his influence extends unto the present day. Kerouac has remained an influential cultural force, and it is fitting that on the centennial year of his birth (2022), his last residence should be registered as a historical landmark and serve as a focal point for our next Porch Party.
Preserve the Burg's Kerouac Porch Party is $15 for PTB members & $20 for non-members.
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets.
