Back in the summer of 1957, Jack Kerouac paid $45 a month to rent the cottage that still stands at 1418 Clouser Ave. in College Park. With no air conditioning, the days were stifling. But at night, the street echoed with crickets' chirping and the click-clack of typewriter keys, as he pounded out "Dharma Bums."
For about half the price of Kerouac's monthly rent -- $19.95 -- you can attend an evening of dinner and jazz to benefit the Kerouac Project, working to restore the cottage into a full-time writers' residence. The four-course dinner, on Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Chapters' Bread & Books Cafe (717 W. Smith St.), includes a choice of entrees: Vegetarian pesto pasta, beef stroganoff with sun-dried tomatoes, seafood platter and a special edition of chicken cordon bleu. For reservations, call 246-1546.
