Carolyn Cassady
Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady (April 28, 1923 – September 20, 2013) was an American writer and 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. Early life Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson was born in Lansing, Michigan, on April 28, 1923. The youngest of five siblings, her father Charles S. Robinson was a college professor of nutrition and biochemist and her mother a former English teacher. They 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 College 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 9, 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,