Old Bull Lee: William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs was born in 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated in anthropology from Harvard. He met Allen Ginsberg in 1943after he moved to New York. Ginsberg, then a student at Columbia University, introduced Burroughs to many of his friends including Jack Kerouac. The younger Kerouac and Ginsberg looked up to Burroughs as a sage elder, admiring his knowledge of drugs and crime and his intellect. Burroughs died in 1997.
Burroughs' claims to fame:
- Burroughs appears several times in Kerouac's novels.
- Burrough's wrote many novels about drug addiction and homosexuality. Those included are Junkie, Queer, and Naked Lunch.
- Burroughs is known for his many adventures with Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and Allen Ginsberg.
- Burroughs is also known for his poetry.
Back to the On the Road home page.