Bill Cannastra
Encyclopedia
William "Bill" Cannastra (1922–1950) was a member of the early Beat Generation
scene in New York
. He was a "wild man" figure that the writers in the group found interesting, similar to their fascination with Neal Cassady
. Characters based on Bill Cannastra were included in both the John Clellon Holmes
novel Go (as "Agatson") and Jack Kerouac
's Visions of Cody
(as "Finistra"). He is also described in Allen Ginsberg
's "Howl
".
.
"The Cannastras lived on Schenectady
's Pennsylvania Avenue, a tree-lined street in the shadows of the Mount Pleasant ballfields. Young Bill, who had the yearnings of a career in the art world, instead placated his parents by studying at Harvard Law School
. In the summer of 1949, when he moved to New York City to further pursue his studies, Haverty went with him."
Bill Cannastra and Joan Haverty met at an artists colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts
when she was 19 years old. He was "vacationing as a scallop-boat fisherman", according to Haverty's biographical sketch in Women of the Beat Generation. It goes on to say "She followed Bill to Manhattan
at the end of the summer of 1949, and there she hung on to a precarious but happy existence, reveling in her seamstress job, window-peeping at night with Bill on the streets of New York ..."
And according to Ellis Amburn: "Joan sometimes dressed in drag as a sailor and joined Cannastra
in kinky games, peeping through windows."
The address of Cannastra's loft in Chelsea
(now a parking lot) was 125 West 21st Street.
Ellis Amburn describes an incident where Bill Cannastra challenged Jack Kerouac
to a nude race around the block (Kerouac refused to remove his underwear). Amburn goes on to say:
Bill Cannastra died on October 12, 1950 in a drunken stunt where he was apparently trying to climb out of a subway car window just as it was pulling away from the platform. He was 28 years old.
Allen Ginsberg refers to the subway stop where Cannastra died as Astor Place
. Some other accounts have it as the Bleecker Street
stop.
Cannastra was living with Joan Haverty at the time of his death. Shortly afterwards she met Kerouac, who immediately proposed to her. Some accounts have it that it was the place where Cannastra had lived that Kerouac found a roll of Japan
ese rice paper
which he then used to write On the Road
, though it appears that this must be in error: more recent scholarship describes the On the Road "scroll" as "telegraph paper".
Holmes discusses Cannastra in an interview in 1974 :
Clellon's account of Bill Cannastra's death:
Ginsberg explains the music reference:
to San Francisco in 1948 so they can visit a friend named "Cody Pomeroy" who is based on Neal Cassady
. "Finistra" is an important supporting characters throughout the novel.
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
scene in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He was a "wild man" figure that the writers in the group found interesting, similar to their fascination with Neal Cassady
Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
. Characters based on Bill Cannastra were included in both the John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes
John Clellon Holmes , born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was an author, poet and professor, best known for his 1952 novel Go. Considered the first "Beat" novel, Go depicted events in his life with his friends Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg. He was often referred to as the "quiet Beat"...
novel Go (as "Agatson") and Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's Visions of Cody
Visions of Cody
Visions of Cody is an experimental novel by Jack Kerouac. It was written in 1951-1952, and though not published in its entirety until 1973, it had by then achieved an underground reputation...
(as "Finistra"). He is also described in Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
's "Howl
Howl
"Howl" is a poem written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and published as part of his 1956 collection of poetry titled Howl and Other Poems. The poem is considered to be one of the great works of the Beat Generation, along with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch...
".
Life
William Cannastra was one of two sons born to a wealthy, aristocratic mother and a machinist father who had emigrated from ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
"The Cannastras lived on Schenectady
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
's Pennsylvania Avenue, a tree-lined street in the shadows of the Mount Pleasant ballfields. Young Bill, who had the yearnings of a career in the art world, instead placated his parents by studying at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. In the summer of 1949, when he moved to New York City to further pursue his studies, Haverty went with him."
Bill Cannastra and Joan Haverty met at an artists colony in Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
when she was 19 years old. He was "vacationing as a scallop-boat fisherman", according to Haverty's biographical sketch in Women of the Beat Generation. It goes on to say "She followed Bill to Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at the end of the summer of 1949, and there she hung on to a precarious but happy existence, reveling in her seamstress job, window-peeping at night with Bill on the streets of New York ..."
And according to Ellis Amburn: "Joan sometimes dressed in drag as a sailor and joined Cannastra
in kinky games, peeping through windows."
The address of Cannastra's loft in Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
(now a parking lot) was 125 West 21st Street.
Ellis Amburn describes an incident where Bill Cannastra challenged Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
to a nude race around the block (Kerouac refused to remove his underwear). Amburn goes on to say:
Bill Cannastra died on October 12, 1950 in a drunken stunt where he was apparently trying to climb out of a subway car window just as it was pulling away from the platform. He was 28 years old.
Allen Ginsberg refers to the subway stop where Cannastra died as Astor Place
Astor Place (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
Astor Place, also called Astor Place – Cooper Union on signs, is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Completed in 1904, it is one of the original twenty-eight stations in the system...
. Some other accounts have it as the Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
Bleecker Street is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Lafayette and Bleecker Streets in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan...
stop.
Cannastra was living with Joan Haverty at the time of his death. Shortly afterwards she met Kerouac, who immediately proposed to her. Some accounts have it that it was the place where Cannastra had lived that Kerouac found a roll of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese rice paper
Rice paper
Rice paper usually refers to paper made from parts of the rice plant, like rice straw or rice flour. The term is also used for paper made from or containing other plants, such as hemp, bamboo or mulberry...
which he then used to write On the Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
, though it appears that this must be in error: more recent scholarship describes the On the Road "scroll" as "telegraph paper".
John Clellon Holmes, Go
In Holmes' Go, Cannastra (alias Agatson) makes his entrance to a party:Holmes discusses Cannastra in an interview in 1974 :
Clellon's account of Bill Cannastra's death:
Allen Ginsberg's Howl
A number of lines in the poem "Howl" refer to Bill Cannastra:who sang out of their windows in despair, fell out of the subway window, jumped in the filthy Passaic,
leaped on negroes, cried all over the street, danced on broken wineglasses barefoot smashed
phonograph records of nostalgic European 1930s German jazz finished the whisky and threw up
groaning into the bloody toilet, moans in their ears and the blast of colossal steamwhistles,
Ginsberg explains the music reference:
Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody
In Jack Kerouac's Visions of Cody, the character "Bill Finistra" is based on Cannastra; "Finistra" is a poet who is friends with Jack Duluoz and travels with him from New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to San Francisco in 1948 so they can visit a friend named "Cody Pomeroy" who is based on Neal Cassady
Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
. "Finistra" is an important supporting characters throughout the novel.
In other literature
- Allen Ginsberg calls Cannastra the "prototype" of the Bill Genovese character in the Alan HarringtonAlan HarringtonAlan Charles Harrington is a Welsh former professional footballer and Wales international. Harrington played his entire professional career at Cardiff City where he is regarded as one of the club's all-time greats.-Career:...
novel The Secret Swinger (1966). - Another poem by Ginsberg, "The Names", discusses Cannastra under the name "Bill King".
- A third poem by Ginsberg is entitled "In Memoriam: William Cannastra, 1922-1950".
- Cannastra also appears as Finistra in Jack Kerouac's Book of DreamsBook of Dreams (novel)Book of Dreams is an experimental novel published by Jack Kerouac in 1960, culled from the dream journal he kept from 1952 to 1960. In it Kerouac tries to continue plot-lines with characters from his books as he sees them in his dreams...
(1961). - Cannastra also appears as Bill Agatson in John Clellon Holmes' novel Get Home Free (1964).
- Alan AnsenAlan AnsenAlan Ansen was an American poet, playwright, and associate of Beat Generation writers. He was a widely-read scholar who knew many languages. Ansen grew up on Long Island and was educated at Harvard. He worked as W. H...
's poem "Dead Drunk: In Memoriam William Cannastra, 1924-1950" appeared in Partisan Review, Vol XXVI, No 4, 1959. Reprinted in Contact Highs: Selected Poems 1957-1987 (1989) with the date amended to "1921-1950". - In Alan Ansen's novel The VigilantesThe VigilantesThe Vigilantes was a twentieth century American publishing syndicate. Their pamphlets and newspapers were distributed with the intention of inspiring patriotism and Allied involvement in World War I. The membership was largely composed of men, who dominated its leadership, though much of the...
(1987) the character Brendan Rcheznik was based on Cannastra. - Robert CreeleyRobert CreeleyRobert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
's poem "N. Truro Light - 1946" is about Cannastra. It was published in his collection Mirrors (1984).