College Park literary hub the Kerouac House dodged a bullet big time on Tuesday, when a massive oak tree fell in the front yard, just missing the main house. Though not as catastrophic as it could have been, the House and property will still need a good amount of repair work.
According to a Facebook post from the Kerouac House, the massive oak limb landed on the Kerouac House’s porch and fell square in their front yard. To give you an idea of the size of the fallen tree limb, it also ended up closing Clouser Street in front of the House for a good chunk of time. The limb was part of a 250 year-old oak that Kerouac dubbed “The Grandfather.” (The photos posted on Facebook demonstrate just how close a brush with total loss this was.)
The unassuming Collage Park residence gained notoriety as the home for Beat writer Jack Kerouac (On the Road, The Subterraneans) for a short time in the late 1950s. Kerouac typed up the manuscript for Dharma Bums there.
For years now, the house has seen a constantly rotating cast of writers-in-residence and readings due to the good work of the Kerouac Project, continuing the writerly tradition within those four walls. (Sidebar: The current writer-in-residence was thankfully not at home when the tree fell.)
If you are able, throw a donation to the Kerouac House for repairs.
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This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2021.