Friends of Jack Kerouac

“Poetic Portals” show happening tomorrow from 7-11pm at “Wayworld” an event space at

Check out the article on Arts In Magazine for more details and a sneak peek of some of the art and poetry that will be on display from 52 creatives from the Tampa Bay Area.

Live music at 7pm
Poetry Open Mic 8-9pm & 9:30-10:30pm
Haiku Lab, Raffle Prizes & More!

will be live screen-printing shirts

Check out the scene! Event is free and open to the public.

https://creativepinellas.org/magazine/visual-art-and-poetry-to-honor-jack-kerouac/

Article link also in bio.

This SATURDAY 4/8 from 7-11pm “Poetic Portals” Art & Poetry Showcase presented by The Friends of Jack Kerouac.

This fundraiser event features live music from the Johnny White Xperience, live screenprinted shirts from

51 artists & poets from St. Pete and Tampa creating visual art in response to one or more poems.

Join us for a fun evening at the immersive event space "Wayworld" covered with murals by Jason Harvin aka

This venue is part of if you’re at Daddy Kool Records or starting at the Fairground’s Mural just keep going left to find the event space at 2622 Fairfield Ave S.

Show Roster
1. Jon Meliferas + Jenipher Chandley 
2. Yuki Jackson + Luckey Leroy
3. Sara Ries + Robert Wegmann .wegmann
4. Rebel Poet + Vera Herrera
5. Michelle Lisan + Luke Heath
6. Gloria Munoz + Merritt Capurro
7. Greg Byrd + Garre Liana .liana.art
8. Rob McCabe + Wasil
9. Tyler Gillespie + Michael Fait
10. Stephanie Jackson + Laura Spencer
11. Antony Patterson .ap + Tony Adams
12. +
13. Diana Nguyen + Zulu Painter
14. Pedro Jarquin + Betsy Lester
15. Stetson Glass + Jade Jackson
16. Robyn Crosa
17. Rose Cervantes + Kris Meenan
18. Carl Jr. + Ted LoCascio
19. Keesha Brundridge King + Amber Sparkle
20. Miesha Brundridge + Brandy Stark .starkart
21. + Derrick Kearney
22. Charles Hines + John Gascot
23. Hannah Newton + Brittany Freemon
24. +
25. Aenea + Rhys Meatyard
26. James Hartzell + Caelan Jeffery

Kerouac once wrote in Desolation Angels “The only truth is Music…it blends with the heartbeat universe and we forget the brain beat”

Learn about Kerouac’s literary legacy, his time in the Sunshine State and the importance of music to his writing during the Tour de Kerouac this Sunday.

Our next guided tour is happening on April 2nd at 10am. Ticket link is in our profile bio.

Two events coming at you in April. SAVE THE DATES!

4/2 Tour de Kerouac-Guided Bike Ride (🎟 link in bio)

The Friends of Jack Kerouac presents our next fundraiser "Poetic Portals: Art and Poetry Exhibit" on Saturday, April 8th in honor of National Poetry Month.

This showcase features 26 pairs of artists and poets from St. Pete and Tampa creating visual art in response to one or more poems. Join us for a fun evening at the immersive event space "Wayworld" covered with murals by Jason Harvin aka

In Honor of Jack Kerouac's "Book of Haikus" we will have an interactive installation meets make & take area in the entryway encouraging people to learn about and write haikus.

Opening reception will be Saturday, April 8th from 7 to 11pm.

Live music from Jazz quartet The Johnny White Xperience starts at 7:30 with special guests.

Poetry performances take place from 8-9pm & 9:30-10:30pm.

Our charity will have a merch and info booth setup. Come meet our board members, dive into the artwork, poetry performances, Haiku Lab and enjoy the vibe!

Artwork will displayed for the month of April. Show curators are Jason Harvin and James Hartzell aka

Event is free and open to the public.

Location: at “Wayworld” which is part of the Factory St Pete, located at 2622 Fairfield Ave S.

Thanks everyone who came out for today’s Tour De Kerouac. What a great group! We were also blessed with fantastic weather. Credit to for being our featured poet.

Next bike ride is scheduled for next Sunday 4/2. Ticket link will be in our profile bio.

More pictures and video to come.

Thanks everyone who came out for Literary Trivia Night 📚💕Our next fundraiser is this SUNDAY 3/26! 🚴🏻

Sign up for the Tour de Kerouac - Guided Bike ride via the QR code or link in our profile.

The tour starts at 10am and features downtown landmarks that Kerouac interacted with during his time in St. Pete 1964-66 & 1968-69.

Learn more about Kerouac’s literary legacy throughout the Sunshine State on this unique historical tour.

Please bring your own bike, water, sunscreen and other essentials.

If you want to read a poem on the tour, volunteer your time or don’t have a bike e-mail us at [email protected]

Happening Tomorrow! Wednesday 3/22 at 7pm we are sponsoring a night of Literary Trivia hosted at
2950 Central Ave.

This is a free event that lasts until 8:30 with prizes for teams who place 1st-3rd.

Our organization will have an info table setup where you can learn more about our upcoming events.

Sign-ups for this Sunday’s Tour de Kerouac - Guided Bike Ride on 3/26 will also be happening during Trivia Night or via the link in our profile bio.

Assemble your trivia squad and join us for a night of fun!

Big thanks to all who attended the screenings of “Go Moan for Man” last weekend at

Gratitude to our special guest speakers Riva Sharples of

Erik Deckers of the Orlando based

Ken Burchenal for taking part in the Q & A along with the hospitality of Gina as we toured Kerouac’s last living residence right here in St Pete

Along with all the help from staff of Green Light Cinema, our volunteers, board members, literary fans and local media outlets for helping promote last weekends series of events honoring Kerouac’s 101st birthday.

Support from folks like you help to make events like these successful and memorable experiences.

If you missed the film, no worries! DVD sales are available through contacting the distributors via email at:
[email protected]

Shout outs to Bill DeYoung of

Tiffany Razzano of


Ray and Kyla of

Kody and Soudabah of

Joe Bourdow of
for helping us reach a larger audience.

Our next event is Literary Trivia Night at the on 3/22 followed by our next bike tour on 3/26 tickets available for the tour in our profile bio.

Our next fundraiser is 1 DAY AWAY!

Riva Sharples of Cottonwood Productions] is one of the special guests traveling to St Pete for this Sunday’s fundraiser at

🎥Tickets are $13 for reserved seats and $11 for seniors. Link is Live in our Bio🍿

Join us on the 101st anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birthday on Sunday, March 12th for film screenings of "Go Moan For Man" at 2:00 and 5:00 PM at Green Light Cinema.

Followed by Q & A's with Judy and Riva Sharples (Cottonwood Productions) along with special guests Ken Burchenal (owner of the St. Pete Kerouac House - 5pm post-show Q & A) and Erik Deckers (President of the Orlando based Kerouac Project - 2pm post-show Q & A).

“Go Moan for Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac” is a comprehensive, feature-length documentary about the life and times of American writer Jack Kerouac created by acclaimed film-maker Doug Sharples (1945-2021).

This feature length documentary film reviews the literary impact, life and extensive travels of Kerouac as the author himself did in his great autobiographical works, including On the Road, Visions of Cody, The Dharma Bums, Desolation Angels, and more.

Sunday’s event will be a historic first bringing all three Florida based Kerouac organizations together under the same roof!

If anyone wants to ask the panelists a question and can’t physically attend the event we will be live streaming the Q & A’s after each screening. Email your questions to [email protected]

Cottonwood Productions]

Special shout out to Tiffany Razzano of the St Pete for illuminating the ways Kerouac’s legacy is being uplifted and celebrated this weekend.

Check out the article (link below and in our story) and more info on the full roster of events happening this weekend.

Our next charity fundraiser is 48 HOURS AWAY!

Join us on Sunday 3/12 featuring the documentary “Go Moan for Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac” with screenings at 2 & 5pm.

Special guest speakers will take part in Q & A’s after both screenings.

3/11 - Kerouac Night at the Flamingo Bar hosted by

3/12 - Open House 12-4

3/12 2 & 5pm screenings of digitally remastered documentary “Go Moan for Man”

🍿🎞Ticket link is in our bio and online through Green Light Cinema’s website 🎥🎟

3/22 Literary Trivia at 7-8:30

3/26 Tour de Kerouac - 9:30am guided bike tour

4/2 Tour de Kerouac at 9:30am

4/8 “Poetic Portals” Art & Poetry showcase at painted event space Wayworld inside the featuring live music, a haiku lab, poetry reading and work on display from 24 pairings of St. Pete and Tampa based creatives.

Patch article link: https://patch.com/florida/stpete/jack-kerouac-turns-101-st-pete-celebrates-iconic-beat-author?utm_source=local-update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert

Thanks Tiffany Razzano and the St Pete Patch for illuminating this weekends slate of events honoring what would have been Jack Kerouac’s 101st birthday.

Give it a read!

Jack Kerouac 101 Years Later: St. Pete Celebrates Iconic Beat Author Jack Kerouac's birth to be marked with showings of "Go Moan for Man," a party at St. Pete's Flamingo Bar and an open house at his last home.

Thank you Bill DeYoung of the St Pete Catalyst for writing an article about our upcoming fundraiser event this Sunday at Green Light Cinema

Two screenings of the documentary film "Go Moan for Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac" are happening at 2pm and 5pm followed by Q & A with special guests.

Check out the article and get your tickets while they're still available. St. Pete is going all out for Kerouac's 101st Birthday weekend!

Kerouac group to screen documentary Sunday Go moan for man. It's the pathos of people that gets us down, all the lovers in this dream. ― Jack Kerouac, On the Road Filmmaker Doug Sharples’ documentary Go Moan For Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac will be screened twice Sunday at Green Light Cinema in downtown St. Petersburg, in ho...

1️⃣0️⃣ DAYS AWAY!!
Fundraiser screenings of the Documentary Film “Go Moan for Man” on Sunday 3/12 at
2pm & 5pm followed by Q & A with special guests from



About The Making of “Go Moan for Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac”

The late South Dakota filmmaker Doug Sharples finished “Go Moan for Man: The Literary Odyssey of Jack Kerouac” in 1999 as a 16mm documentary film. The film was a project of passion for Sharples, who was a Kerouac superfan, and was pursued by Sharples in his free time and using $175,000 of his own money.

Although Sharples made many great and award-winning environmental and educational films during his 50-year filmmaking career, “Go Moan for Man” was truly the crowning jewel of both his professional and personal life.

He traveled more than 50,000 miles across the nation and globe to film seemingly every Kerouac site identifiable and took more than 17 years to painstakingly complete the film.

In reality, the film was more like 40 years in the making. As soon as Doug was smitten with Kerouac as a teenager in the late 1950s, he started collecting everything Kerouac. He didn’t just read Kerouac – he became a self-imposed Kerouac scholar, analyzing texts and filling notebooks with careful scribblings about characters and their true identities and locations in Kerouac’s novels. In 1982, when he was 11 years into his filmmaking career, Doug Sharples and his wife Judi traveled to the 1982 “On the Road” Conference in Boulder, Colorado, and filmed as much footage as they could of panel sessions and landing interviews with many Kerouac scholars and real-life characters who were there.

The scene on this post of the robed figure was filmed in the “Badlands” of South Dakota.

Join us for a historic event on the 101st anniversary of Kerouac’s birthday for the film and discussion afterwards which brings together all three Florida-based Kerouac organizations under one roof for the first time.

Event at Green Light Cinema is hosted and organized by Friends of Jack Kerouac at 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2013.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Tour de Kerouac guided bike ride on Sunday. Delighted to have such a great group including a couple Kerouac fans from Germany & Czech Republic!

Grateful to Ken & Gina along with the folks running the Jack Kerouac House of St Petersburg for allowing us to stop in afterwards for a private tour of the house.

You can access extra content and information related to all of our tour stops via the website Kerouac.oncell.com

Swipe —> to see our next events starting with screenings at 2 & 5pm of documentary “Go Moan for Man” on March 12 at Green Light Cinema on what would have been Kerouac’s 101st birthday.

Literary Trivia Night will be happening at The Studio Public House on 3/22 starting at 7pm.

Our next Tour de Kerouac is scheduled for 3/26 at 9:30am.

Our board is excited about our plans for March & April, hope to see you there! Support of folks like you helps sustain our charity, now in its 10th year, and enables use to continue providing services for the literary arts community.

Todays Tour de Kerouac is happening at 9:30 for check in and orientation. We hit the road at 10am. Tickets are still available via link in our bio or you can purchase a ticket on site.

This historical bike tour was launched in 2022 and has been made possible with grant funding from Florida Humanities. Your tour experience has been elevated with the interactive technology plaques currently are at 2 of 13 locations on the larger driving tour.

You can scan the plaques in person and find out more info via our digital tour on the website Kerouac.oncell.com

If you can’t make the bike adventure this morning join us at the Kerouac House for a private tour at 1pm.

Thanks for helping us take the Tour de Kerouac to the next level. Special thanks to for allowing us to bring a tour group by today.

We are sponsoring Trivia Night this Wednesday evening 2/22 from 7-9pm at 2950 Central Ave, St Pete, FL.

Join the fun for 5 rounds of brainteasers! Prizes for 1st-3rd places.
Assemble your trivia team or enjoy the challenge solo.

We will have a mini merch table at this event. Stop by, enjoy some tasty food, learn about our organization, and sign up for this Sunday’s Tour de Kerouac - Guided Bike Ride on 2/26 at 10am

Ticket link is also live in our profile bio for 2/26.

We will be back at The Studio Public House hosting a special Literary Trivia on March 8th as part of a lineup of events throughout the month in honor of Kerouac’s birthday on March 12th.

Big reveal time…NEW “Tour de Kerouac” shirts from the fantastic local screen-printing studio

Limited run of 25 shirts in this design & color with a Kerouac quote on the back, “Live, travel, adventure, bless and don’t be sorry.”

Available tomorrow 2/18 at LOCALTOPIA the epic festival featuring 300+ vendors in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg, FL.

Stop by our booth in the
📖 LITERARY CORNER 📚 on 3rd Street N right next to Williams Park.

Meet our board members, support our mission honoring the legacy of Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac with donations, take home some unique merch like sticker and stationery combo packs, “Mad One” quote shirts and bandannas.

Sign up for our next guided bike tour on Feb 26th in-person or online via the link in our bio. $12 per rider, tours max out at a group of 20.

We are always looking for volunteers to help grow our group so let’s us know at the event or by emailing us at:
[email protected]

Excited to be participating in another edition of Localtopia tomorrow, a celebration of things LOCAL!

Big shout out to the crew at Woveprint these shirts look and feel amazing!

Localtopia is happening this Saturday 2/18 from 10am-5pm, this epic event is hosted by featuring 300+ vendors.

Find us in the Literary Corner
📚 📖 💕 (6 on the map)

Stay tuned for the full reveal this week of new shirts fresh off the press from

Swipe —> for the sneak peak of the Kerouac quote on the backside.

Shirts will be available in person for this weekend’s event before being posted on our Etsy store.

Stop by the booth, meet our board members and find out more about our upcoming events.

Trivia Night on 2/22 from 7-9pm

Tour de Kerouac - Guided Ride on 2/26 🚴🏻

🎟Ticket link is live in our bio🎟

Literary themed Trivia Night at the on 3/8 from 7-9pm.

Screenings of Kerouac documentary from Cottonwood Productions “Go Moan for Man” at on Sunday 3/12 at 2 & 5pm.

Happy Valentines Day for all us of at FOJK!

Excited to be part of another Localtopia festival happening this Saturday 2/18 at Williams Park from 10am-5pm. Find us in the Literary Corner, park side of 3rd St just before the intersection with 2nd Ave.

We ❤️ you, St. Pete ❣️ You're our forever Valentine. 💘 THIS Saturday's Localtopia is our biggest love letter to our city! 💌 Our vendors are counting on you to show up and show them your 🥰 Among the 300+ vendors you'll find some of St. Pete's amazing community organizations. We'd like to show the following some love on this special day. Look for them on Saturday, and support them year-round! 🙏 (🎨 mural: Cecilia Lueza via City of St. Petersburg, Florida)

❤️ American Stage
❤️ Car-Free St. Pete
❤️ Friends of Jack Kerouac
❤️ GFWC St. Petersburg Junior Woman’s Club
❤️ Girls Rock Camp St. Pete
❤️ Green Book of Tampa Bay
❤️ Indi-ED
❤️ KEEP ST. PETE LIT
❤️ Kids Saving Oceans
❤️ Museum of Motherhood
❤️ NOMADstudio
❤️ Preserve the 'Burg
❤️ St Pete Pride
❤️ St Pete Run Fest
❤️ St. Pete Shuffle
❤️ St Petersburg Chamber
❤️ St. Petersburg College / St. Petersburg College Downtown Center
❤️ Sunshine City Roller Derby
❤️ Sunshine Street Team
❤️ Tampa Bay Beer Week
❤️ Tampa Bay Watch
❤️ Tampa Bay Waterkeeper
❤️ The Palladium at St. Petersburg College