Carolyn Cassady

Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady (April 28, 1923 – September 20, 2013) was an American writer associated with the Beat Generation through her marriage to Neal Cassady and her friendships with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other prominent Beat figures. She became a frequent character in the works of Jack Kerouac, who wrote extensively about Neal Cassady.

The youngest of five siblings, she was born in Lansing, Michigan. Of English descent, both of her parents were educators, her mother a former English teacher and her father a biochemist, who raised their children according to strict conventional values. She spent the first eight years of her childhood in East Lansing, then the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she attended the Ward-Belmont Preparatory School for Girls. Although she enjoyed the school, she was less happy with Nashville and chose to spend her summers in Glen Lake, Michigan.

After the move to Nashville, she developed her lifelong interest in the fine arts and theater arts. She began formal art lessons at age nine, sold her first portrait at age 14, and continued her interest in portrait painting as an adult. At age 12 she joined the Nashville Community Playhouse, where she won awards for set designs and became the head of the make-up department at age 16. She secured a scholarship to Bennington College, where she initially studied art and then switched to drama.

In 1943, she studied for six months in New York City. Until she and her roommate could find an apartment of their own, they were hosted by playwright Robert E. Sherwood. By day she worked for Dazian's fabric company, by night she studied at Traphagen School of Design, and on weekends she browsed the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art for little-known prints of period dress. She attended Broadway stage productions, witnessed the beginning of the American Ballet Theatre and took in performances of the biggest swing bands of the era. Both she and her roommate became air raid wardens, serving as auxiliary members of the NYPD.

At Bennington, Carolyn took classes with Martha Graham, Erich Fromm, Peter Drucker, Francis Ferguson and Theodore Roethke, obtaining her BA degree in Stanislavsky Drama in 1944. After graduation, she became an occupational therapist for the U.S. Army and served at Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs, California. When WWII ended, she returned to Nashville to continue her work at the Nashville Community Playhouse, paint and recover from her war experiences.

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