Norman Podhoretz and Jack Kerouac

I cannot read Norman Podhoretz’s column without recalling a line from Jack Kerouac, “The woods are full of wardens.”

It is a tribute to Kerouac’s writing that almost two decades after his death, he still sends members of the conservative Establishment into a vitriolic frenzy.

I no longer read Kerouac’s writings as I did when I was 18. But I can still remember carrying “On The Road” around with me and pressing it on my friends. I was amazed to find someone who could put into words the yearnings and emotions I was feeling so strongly then.

Podhoretz is right to fear Kerouac’s work. It talks about asking more out of life than sleepwalking through the 9-to-5 world. It talks about finding dignity in people who we often consider poor or uneducated.

It told us that there could be joy and adventure in our lives, if we just open ourselves up to it.

These are not the values of the status quo Podhoretz would have us pay homage to.

My own “on the road” period is a good 10 years back now. Today I have a good job. My wife and I own a house, two cars and are expecting our first child soon. I suppose I’ve become pretty traditional. But Kerouac’s vision of opening one’s self to the excitement and joy in the world around us seems more important than ever. And if we have a boy, we’re going to name him “Jack.”

KEITH ROHMAN

Los Angeles