About Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was an American writer who was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s. Cassady published only two short fragments of prose in his lifetime, but exerted considerable intellectual and stylistic influence through his conversation and correspondence. Letters, poems, and an unfinished autobiographical novel have been published since his death. He was prominently featured as himself in the "scroll" (first draft) version of Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, and served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in the 1957 version of that book. In many of Kerouac's later books, Cassady is represented by the character Cody Pomeray. Cassady also appeared in Allen Ginsberg's poems and in several other works of literature by other writers. Although Cassady did not attend Columbia, he soon became friends with them and their acquaintances, some of whom later became members of the Beat Generation. During this period, Cassady worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and kept in touch with his "Beat" acquaintances, even as they became increasingly different philosophically. Practical, useful stuff." Cassady first met author Ken Kesey during the summer of 1962; he eventually became one of the Merry Pranksters, a group that formed around Kesey in 1964, who were vocal proponents of the use of psychedelic drugs.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.