The 50th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" holds special meaning for WESH reporter Bob Kealing. He's the local expert on Kerouac and has been instrumental in helping ensure the writer's place in Central Florida has been properly preserved.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Kealing, 43, spent his spare time tracking down the author's ties to the Sunshine State, a quest that yielded the 2004 book Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends and started the ball rolling toward the formation of the Kerouac Project and the preservation of the Kerouac House."Kerouac's status has grown exponentially since he lived in College Park," Kealing said. "The best part is, he's not just a 'Beatnik icon.' Today he's widely recognized as a great American author of the 20th century, right up there with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. That is the crucial recognition Kerouac was lacking at the time of his death."

Read the full story here in the Orlando Sentinel.

Labels: WESH 2 News