Another, signed ‘Friend of Jack’, reads: ‘I prefer to think of myself as a free spirit and a person who follows a path of her own choosing. You have always been my inspiration.’
另一封署名為“杰克的朋友”的信上說：“我更愿意認為自己擁有一顆自由的靈魂，遵從自己內心的選擇。你一直給我鼓勵。”

Kerouac, the creator of iconic characters such as Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, died at a St Petersburg hospital in 1969, at the age of 47.
凱魯亞克創造了一些標志性人物，如薩爾?帕利代斯和狄安?莫里亞蒂。他1969年于圣彼得斯堡醫院逝世，享年47歲。

His home, where he was living with his mother Gabrielle and his wife Stella, has become a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of fans every year.
每年都有數百名書迷前去瞻仰他與母親加布里埃爾和妻子斯特拉共同居住的家。

Kerouac rocketed to fame at the age of 35, with the publication of On the Road in 1957.
凱魯亞克1957年出版了《在路上》后名聲大震，那一年他35歲。

But after becoming an icon and the figurehead of a counter-culture, he struggled with that fame and claimed that he only wanted people to read his books.
但是當他成為偶像，成為反文化的代表人物后，他深受名氣困擾，聲稱他只希望人們能讀他的書。

Kerouac died just 12 years after On The Road the published. He was suffering from cirrhosis following years of excessive drinking - largely brought on by his love-hate relationship with fame.
《在路上》一書出版12年后，凱魯亞克就去世了。對于出名，他愛恨交加，這是他常年酗酒的主要原因，最終導致肝硬化。

Vocabulary
the Beat generation: 垮掉的一代
unassuming: 謙遜的，不裝腔作勢的；不起眼的
wedge: 塞進、插入
wanderlust: 憧憬旅游
iconic: 標志性的
figurehead: 有名無實的首領
cirrhosis: 肝硬化
love-hate relationship: 愛恨交織的關系

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：實習生馮佳佳
審校&編輯：許晶晶