Storytelling @ The Kerouac House featuring Jim Sampas

This month’s Storytelling @ the Kerouac House will be on Saturday 03/28 from 7-9 pm featuring the Kerouac Estate's literary executor and Jack's nephew Jim Sampas. Jim is coming all the way from Lowell, Massachusetts to tell his story, so don't miss it. Our own in-house storyteller extraordinaire Victoria Dym will emcee and also tell.

Jim Sampas is the nephew of Stella (Sampas) Kerouac, and met his uncle Jack at as very young child. Sampas was born in Stoneham, MA, and raised in Lowell, the city in which his uncle also grew up and was buried when he died in 1969. Sampas is the Literary Executor of the Jack Kerouac Estate, a role he assumed in 2018. He also had earlier experience with the organization – he was the estate’s Executive Director from 1993 to 1999, when he worked closely with the previous Literary Executor John Sampas.

Although he began an early creative career as a musician, band member and songwriter, he turned his hand to record production, building on his educational experience and time in studios, and the music industry more broadly, eventually establishing his own independent label. His first project appeared in 1997, Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, a spoken word tribute album to his uncle that included tracks from a significant gathering of major cultural figures of our time, including: Joe Strummer, John Cale, William Burroughs, Warren Zevon, Patti Smith, Hunter S. Thompson, Jeff Buckley, Jim Carroll, Steven Tyler, Morph*ne, Juliana Hatfield, Eddie Vedder, and Michael Stipe.

Since that debut, Sampas has produced many Kerouac themed musical and film projects working with the likes of Tom Waits, David Amram, Michael Polish, Kate Bosworth, Jean-Marc Barr, Radha Mitchell, Josh Lucas, Ben Gibbard, Jay Farrar, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, Carolyn Cassady, Rober Hunter, Aimee Mann, Eddie Vedder, The Cowboy Junkies, Johnny Cash, Hiss Golden Messenger, Sufjan Stevens, Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde, and Ben Harper, to name only a few.

Most recently he is the co-founder, with Sylvia Cunha, of Sal Paradise Press which to date has released four well received new Jack Kerouc titles: The Buddhist Years: Collected Writings, Self Portrait, Desolation Peak, and the book of quote, Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies. In 2025 he also executive produced several Jack Kerouac audiobooks for Blackstone Publishing, including: Scattered Poems, Book of Blues, Lonesome Travelor, Book of Blues, Visions of Gerard and others.

There will be a storytelling open mic (sign-up with Victoria Dym at the event for a 5-7 minute slot, telling, no reading) and libations and snacks for sale. Limited Seating, Advance Tickets Recommended.

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Host or Publisher The Jack Kerouac House of St. Petersburg, Inc.