Writer Joyce Johnson's on Women's Adventures

Joyce Johnson became a part of the circle known as the Beat writers: Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac, when she broke away from her middle class Jewish family life and joined the bohemian Greenwich Village crowd. Johnson met Kerouac in 1957 and was in a romantic relationship with him for two years. Her new memoir, "Minor Characters," discusses not only her experiences but also the role of women in the Beat generation. Johnson is also an editor and novelist.

Writer Joyce Johnson talks about her relationship to Beat icon Jack Kerouac, and her book, Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in Letters which is now out in paperback. In 1957, Johnson started a relationship with the then little-known writer Kerouac. Nine months later, Kerouacs Beat classic On the Road was published. Johnson will talk about her two-year, tumultuous love affair with Kerouac, and how the publication of On the Road changed Kerouac. Door Wide Open contains many letters sent to Johnson by Kerouac.

Writer Joyce Johnson, talks about her relationship to Beat icon Jack Kerouac, and her new book, “Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in letters” (Viking). In 1957, Johnson started a relationship with the then little-known writer Kerouac. 9 months later, Kerouac’s Beat classic “On the Road” was published. Johnson will talk about her two-year, tumultuous love affair with Kerouac, how the publication of “On the Road” changed Kerouac, and she’ll talk about what it was like being young and female and part of the Manhattan bohemian scene.