Born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and raised in Chicago, Herbert Huncke was a street hustler, high school … See more

Huncke hitchhiked to New York City in 1939. He was dropped off at 103rd and Broadway, and he asked the driver how to find 42nd Street. "You walk straight down Broadway," the man said, "and you will find 42nd Street… See more

Huncke himself was a natural storyteller, a unique character with a paradoxically honest take on life. Later, after the formation of the so-called Beat Generation, members of the Beats encouraged Huncke to publish h… See more

Jack Kerouac described Huncke in his "Now it's Jazz" reading from Desolation Angels, chapter 77:
Huck, whom you'll see on Times Square, somnolent and alert, sad, sweet, dark, holy. Just out of j… See more

Huncke was featured in several documentaries about the Beat generation, including Janet Forman's "The Beat Generation: An American Dream," Richard Lerner and Lewis MacAdams' "What Happened t… See more