Beats Collection: Edie Parker and Henri Cru Papers, 1887-2004

Call Number RBC Beats Folio Z9999.1.P37

Contact Information:

Rare Book Collection

CB#3936, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1143

Fax: 919/962-4452

Email: rbcref@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Rare Book Collection.

Creator

Kerouac, Edie Parker, 1923-1993.

Title

Beats Collection: Edie Parker and Henri Cru Papers, 1887-2004

Call Number

RBC Beats Folio Z9999.1.P37

Language of Materials

Materials in English, with an occasional item in French

Extent

Items: circa 1,700

Linear Feet: circa 6.5

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Acquisitions Information

The Edie Parker and Henri Cru Papers were donated by Tim Moran, the friend and caretaker of Edie Parker and Henri Cru, and by John Moran, Tim's brother

Processing Information

Processed by: Kate Moriarty, December 2004

Encoded by: Roberta Engleman, June 2006

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Beats Collection: Edie Parker and Henri Cru Papers (#RBC Beats Folio Z9999.1.P37), Rare Book Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Beat generation.

Beat generation in literature.

Burroughs, Joan Vollmer Adams.

Burroughs, William S., 1914-

Carr, Lucien, 1924?-

Cassady, Carolyn.

Cassady, Neal.

Charters, Ann.

Creeley, Robert, 1926-

Cru, Albert L. (Albert Louis), b. 1881.

Cru, Henri, 1921-1992.

Fitzgerald, John.

Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-

Haverty, Joan.

Huncke, Herbert.

Kerouac Conference (1982: Naropa Institute)

Kerouac, Edie Parker, 1923-1993.

Kerouac, G. Caroline.

Kerouac, Gabrielle.

Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969.

Kerouac, Jan, 1952-

Kerouac, Stella Sampas.

Morgan, Bill, 1949-

Nicosia, Gerald.

Pivano, Fernanda.

Russell, Vicki.

Waits, Tom, 1949-

Céline Young

Biographical Note

Edie Parker, 1922-1993

Frankie Edith Parker was born 20 September 1922 in Detroit, Mich., to an upper-middle-class family. She grew up in the Detroit area, spent her summers in the family's second home in Asbury Park, N.J., and had extended stays at her grandmother's in New York City. In the early 1940s Parker attended Columbia University, where she studied art. While in New York City, she met and dated Henri Cru, a prep-school friend of Jack Kerouac. Cru introduced Parker to Kerouac in 1942, shortly before shipping out for service in World War II. Parker was living with Joan Vollmer (the future wife of William Burroughs) in one of three apartments they shared during the early- to mid-1940s and which served as a residence and gathering place for the two women and a number of their friends.

Parker introduced Kerouac to Allen Ginsberg and Lucien Carr. Soon William Burroughs; Herbert Huncke; Neal Cassady; Hal Chase; Carr's girlfriend, Céline Young; and others were incorporated into the circle. On 22 August 1944 Parker married Kerouac while he was in jail as a material witness in the Carr-Kammerer murder case, thereby freeing up her trust-fund money and enabling her to post Kerouac's bail. The couple lived in Grosse Pointe, Mich., with Parker's mother and sister for a few months before Kerouac returned to New York. Parker also left for New York and there followed two years of the couple living with Kerouac's family or with Vollmer and other friends. Kerouac was frequently absent during this period, but when he was home, Parker worked odd jobs as a stevedore, longshoreman, cigarette girl, and model to support his writing.

In 1946 the couple separated and Parker returned to Grosse Pointe. The marriage was legally annulled in 1952. Parker remarried twice, to Mike Dietz (1952-1954) and Pat Garvin (1959-1969). Kerouac contacted her periodically throughout the years, and even proposed a visit shortly before he died in 1969. Parker figured in several of Kerouac's novels under the pseudonyms Judie Smith (The Town and the City), Elly (Visions of Cody), and Edna Palmer (Vanity of Duluoz). Parker herself did not read Kerouac's books and was not aware of the extent of his fame until she attended his funeral. She subsequently spent the rest of her years speaking on Kerouac and writing her memoirs, which were never published. She authored several articles on Kerouac and appeared in the film What Happened to Kerouac?

In part prompted by writing her memoirs, Parker kept in touch with Ginsberg; Burroughs; Neal Cassady's wife, Carolyn Cassady; and several others associated with the Beats. In 1979 she contacted Cru after thirty years and they remained close friends until his death in 1992. Parker met Tim Moran in 1984 and offered him a home. Moran became her caretaker for six years, during which time he was introduced to Cru. When Moran moved to New York in 1990, he became Cru's caretaker until 1992. Moran assisted Parker with her memoirs, and shortly before she died on 29 October 1993, Parker willed her papers to Moran.

Henri Cru, 1921-1992

Henri Cru was born on 2 April 1921 in Massachusetts to an English mother and French father. The family had recently moved from France and Cru's father, Albert Cru, became a French professor in Massachusetts. They moved to New York City when Albert Cru joined the faculty of Columbia Teachers College. Henri Cru was not diligent in his studies and was sent to Paris for a time during high school. He returned to the United States, where he met Jack Kerouac while attending Horace Mann School, a prep school in New York. Upon graduation, Cru joined the Coast Guard, and soon after, the merchant marine. Cru's mother and Edie Parker's grandmother lived in the same New York City building and in 1939 Cru and Parker started dating. In 1942 Cru introduced Parker to Jack Kerouac, and shortly afterward shipped off for World War II. Though Parker and Cru's commitment to each other had fluctuated, Cru was hurt and angry for a few years after Parker and Kerouac dated and married.

Around 1947, Cru moved to San Francisco and invited Kerouac to visit him, join the merchant marine, and look for work on vessels in the area. This inspired Kerouac's first cross-country trip, recounted in On the Road, in which Cru figures as Remi Boncoeur. During his stay with Cru, the two collaborated on the never-produced screenplay "Blood and Paper or Lunchtime Wake" (Folder 78). Cru is later depicted as Deni Bleu in Kerouac's Visions of Cody, Desolation Angels, Lonesome Traveler, and Vanity of Duluoz.

Cru remained in the merchant marine up until his retirement in the mid- to late 1980s. He worked primarily as an electrician, but he also served as (ship) fireman, oiler, pumpman, junior engineer, refrigerating engineer, deck engineer, lifeboatman, and bouncer. His work took him to Asia, India, Europe, and South America.

Cru's primary residence during this time was Greenwich Village, N.Y., and he frequently saw Kerouac when they were both in town. Later, in his letters to Parker and Tim Moran, Cru mentions that the visits became increasingly difficult as Kerouac's alcoholism progressed, producing a reluctance in Cru to spend large amounts of time with his friend.

In 1979 Parker contacted Cru and the two resumed a close acquaintance. Cru was diagnosed with diabetes, and around 1980 his left leg was amputated below the knee. Parker visited Cru and helped him in his hospitalizations in the 1980s. Parker also introduced Cru to Tim Moran, who became his caretaker in the early 1990s. In 1988 Cru, Parker, and Moran attended the dedication of the Jack Kerouac Commemorative in Lowell, Mass. Cru died in August 1992. As Parker would do a year later, Cru willed his papers to Tim Moran.

Collection Overview

The Edie Parker and Henri Cru Papers were donated by Tim Moran, the friend and caretaker of Edie Parker and Henri Cru, and by John Moran, Tim's brother. The collection consists of the personal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, and publications of Edie Parker, Jack Kerouac's first wife, and the personal papers, photos, and scrapbook of Kerouac's prep-school friend, Henri Cru. The personal accounts present in Parker's unpublished memoirs and the correspondence of both Cru and Parker contribute significantly to our knowledge of Kerouac. Included in the collection are the originals of four letters and a telegram from Kerouac to Parker from 1943, 1957, and 1969 (Folder 22). Other correspondents and notable individuals in the collection include Allen Ginsberg, Gabrielle Kerouac, G. Caroline Kerouac (Nin Kerouac), Joan Vollmer Adams Burroughs, William Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Lucien Carr, Neal Cassady, Carolyn Cassady, Joan Haverty, Jan Kerouac, Stella Sampas Kerouac, Albert Cru (Henri Cru's father), Tom Waits, Vicki Russell, Ann Charters, Robert Creeley, John Fitzgerald, Céline Young, Bill Morgan, Gerald Nicosia, and Fernanda Pivano. There is also information about the 1982 Kerouac Conference at the Naropa Institute.

Arrangement of Collection

Subcollection 1: Edie Parker
1. Correspondence and Related Materials
2. Writings
2.1. Published Writings
2.2. Memoirs
2.3. Other Writings
2.4. Writings by Jack Kerouac
2.5. Writings by Others
3. Financial and Legal Materials
4. Scrapbooks and Biographical Materials
5. Printed Materials
6. Photographic Materials
6.1. Photographic Prints
6.2. Photographic Negatives
7. Other Papers and Related Materials
Subcollection 2: Henri Cru
8. Correspondence
9. Financial Materials
10. Scrapbooks and Biographical Materials
11. Printed Materials
12. Photographic Materials
12.1. Photographic Prints
12.2. Photographic Negatives
12.3. Slides
13. Other Papers and Related Materials
14. Other Donated Materials
14.1. Tim Moran
14.2. John Moran

Items Separated

Six oversize pictures in Folders 171-176 located in Box P-1.

Detailed Description of the Collection