The other day I talked about how “karpouzi” is just one of those words I always say in Greek and shared my recipe for watermelon-and-feta salad. Since I’m a big fan of tying things together, can I tell you about a connection between watermelon and Jack Kerouac?
In his novel Dr. Sax, Kerouac writes about a man who died while carrying a watermelon across a bridge in Lowell. My coauathor for Burning Furiously Beautiful, Paul Maher Jr., actually discovered the identity of the man the memory is based on. You can read Paul’s story about Kerouac’s watermelon man in Pop Matters.
At last year’s Lowell Celebrates Kerouac festival, the group visited the bridge where this took place (also known as the Textile Memorial Bridge, the University Bridge, and the Moody Street Bridge). Well, this February the bridge was demolished. In its place is the Richard P. Howe Bridge.
Maybe its a suburban thing but when I was a teenager, I used to hang out a lot at a bridge. Do you have memories of hanging out at this bridge or any other bridge?
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
Here’s what could have been: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaUjKNjUkpw&feature=youtu.be
It’s such a shame.
Thanks for sharing this!
The bastards is all I can say. There are countless bridges from that area that are still standing and are used as footbridges and such, so I am pretty sure something could have been done to retain this bridge. R.I.P. you will be missed. Glad I wandered the bridge and took some photos of and from it.
Glad you got photos of it!