--- title: Auction of Lost Letter to Jack Kerouac From Neal Cassady Postponed description: Kerouac called the missive "the greatest piece of writing I ever saw" and his inspiration for 'On the Road' canonical: https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/ author: Charlie Campbell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-11T04:01:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:45:46.036Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Lost Letter From Cassady to Kerouac Claimed by Both Families og:description: Missive was the inspiration for 'On the Road.' og:url: https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1c2224135b192a/69876e2fcd6848e2550988f2/rtr4gbs3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: An 18-page letter written by Beat-era icon Cassady is shown to reporters in San Francisco og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Lost Letter From Cassady to Kerouac Claimed by Both Families twitter:description: Missive was the inspiration for 'On the Road.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1c2224135b192a/69876e2fcd6848e2550988f2/rtr4gbs3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Auction of Lost Letter From Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac Shelved > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Editor at Large Dec 11, 2014 4:01 AM UTC  An 18-page letter written by Beat-era icon Neal Cassady, which transformed Jack Kerouac's writing style, is shown in San Francisco, California, Dec. 1, 2014 An 18-page letter written by Beat-era icon Neal Cassady, which transformed Jack Kerouac's writing style, is shown in San Francisco, California, Dec. 1, 2014Deepa Seetharaman—Reuters  by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/)  ## Charlie Campbell Editor at Large Dec 11, 2014 4:01 AM UTC The [auction](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f06bb567abf34269b8a7e7be31de811e/estates-claim-postpones-kerouac-letter-auction) of a letter deemed the inspiration for Jack Kerouac’s 1957 masterpiece _On the Road_ has been postponed amid an ownership dispute. The family of Neal Cassady, the Beat Generation icon who penned the 16,000-word correspondence, is locked in a legal wrangle with Kerouac’s relatives, reports the Associated Press. The letter, known as the Joan Anderson Letter, inspired Kerouac to tear up an early version of _On The Road_ and instead adopt Cassady’s relentless, stream-of-consciousness style. Los Angeles performance artist Jean Spinosa apparently found the missive when she went through her late father’s belongings. Both the Cassady and Kerouac estates have filed court motions claiming ownership but a hearing date has not yet been set, Cassady’s daughter Jami Cassady told the Associated Press. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f06bb567abf34269b8a7e7be31de811e/estates-claim-postpones-kerouac-letter-auction)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/"},"headline":"Auction of Lost Letter From Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac Shelved","datePublished":"2014-12-11T04:01:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:45:46.036Z","description":"Kerouac called the missive \"the greatest piece of writing I ever saw\" and his inspiration for On the Road","url":"https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/","keywords":["Books","Letter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1c2224135b192a/69876e2fcd6848e2550988f2/rtr4gbs3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba1c2224135b192a/69876e2fcd6848e2550988f2/rtr4gbs3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"An 18-page letter written by Beat-era icon Cassady is shown to reporters in San Francisco","caption":"An 18-page letter written by Beat-era icon Cassady is shown to reporters in San Francisco","creditText":"Deepa Seetharaman—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3629444/jack-kerouac-on-the-road-neal-cassady-letter/","name":"Auction of Lost Letter From Neal Cassady to Jack Kerouac Shelved"}}]}] ```