Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady is known more for her association with Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac than for her own achievement, which is laudable and extensive. Her writing, paintings, and theatrical designs have all won awards, and her life has been an example of generous involvement and sharing.

A distant relative of Sir Walter Scott, Cassady was born in Lansing, Michigan, on 28 April 1923. In August of 1931 she moved with her parents, Dr. Charles S. and Florence Elizabeth Sherwood Robinson, to Nashville, Tennessee, where her father had accepted a position as professor of biochemistry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The youngest of five children, she was raised in a solid Victorian family. As Cassady recalls, "I was blessed with parents whose mission in life was to give their children security and education above all else. This was intended to provide them with a blueprint for a rich and...