Tess Adamski

I met Tess at a writers workshop being held at the Keouac house. Tess designed the tattoo on her back herself and I found out that her tattoo artist in Toronto was named Thor, which happens to be my nickname. The tattoo consists of the last paragraph from Jack’s novel, “On the Road.” On the wall were photos of Jack writing in this very room. The center photo was the photo she used as reference for her tattoo. The red and green color scheme was far to perfect, there had to be a greater force at work here. There was something surreal about the whole experience. Tess refereed to it as Kerouacendipity.
“Like most people I read On The Road at age 17…and Jack answered and validated a lot of internal questions and thoughts that had me in a teenage turmoil. Growing up in an idyllic childhood in a small town…I always wanted out, feeling I should be somewhere else-so unlike my friends and family and wondering what is wrong with me? Why do I feel so unhappy? Jack let me know I wasn’t crazy and it was alright to see myself on the road out of my hometown. That was the pivotal point in my life.
Then it was a sweet progression into his works and life. With a background in classic literature, I spent my time with London, Fitzgerald etc…then comes Kerouac…whose writing touched me so deeply on a personal level from the honest passion that he created with the same 26 letters offered to everyone. Yet he created such a unique voice…I developed a real familiarity that was very comforting…like finding the perfect lover without all the mortal complications.
The more I delved into his personal life, I found myself becoming very protective of TiJean, sympathizing with the bombardment of misunderstanding that plagued his life and legacy of work. And so now, I am at a point in my life where I can devote my time to constant study of
Kerouac…working on a book to promote a further understanding of his writing genius. His voice is still an important voice to be heard and like hearing a great piece of music…reading Kerouac
once, is not enough. I’ve always thought that Kerouac could give sight to a blind man…the true historian of mankind…no one has documented the minuteness of sights, sounds and feeling of man like Jack… and he makes everyone of those details so poetic and soulfully important that it makes you glad you’re alive and a part of it.
Jack once said…Life is my art. And now I ink myself with his art-his words…. an eternal
canvas of the purest poetry of life….and it’s kinda nice to know that Jack always has my back.”
-Tess Adamski