Justin W. Brierly
Encyclopedia
Justin W. Brierly was an American educator and lawyer. He was a prominent member of Denver, Colorado
society, noted for his efforts to place students into prominent universities, and as a patron of the performing arts. He is also remembered for his association with Beat Generation
icons Neal Cassady
and Jack Kerouac
.
in New York City
. He helped form a talent agency there before returning to Denver, where he became an English literature teacher and guidance counselor at East High School. Brierly took an active role in mentoring young men he considered bright students, to help motivate them and use his connections to place them in college. After fourteen years as a teacher, Brierly was appointed as the supervisor of college and scholarship guidance for Denver Public Schools. He also served as a committee member of the Ivy League Scholarship Board in Denver. Future aerospace CEO and Defense Department official Norman Ralph Augustine
was among the students Brierly mentored. During World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
invited Brierly to England as a consultant on the evacuation of children from urban areas at risk from German bombing. Brierly retired from the school system in 1971, after thirty-six years of service.
, then a 15-year old juvenile delinquent who would become a significant influence on the Beat writers and a countercultural icon in his own right. Impressed by Cassady's high IQ, Brierly took an active role in Cassady's life over the next few years, helping admit him to high school, encouraging and supervising his reading, and finding employment for him. Cassady continued his criminal activities, however, and was repeatedly arrested from 1942 to 1944; on at least one of these occasions, he was released by law enforcement into Brierly's safekeeping. He and Brierly actively exchanged letters during this period even through Cassady's intermittent incarcerations; these represent Cassady's earliest surviving letters. Brierly, apparently a closeted homosexual, is also believed to have been responsible for Cassady's first homosexual experience.
Cassady was introduced in 1946 to future Beat Generation literary icons Jack Kerouac
and Allen Ginsberg
by another Brierly protégé, Hal Chase, who Brierly had helped place at Columbia University. Kerouac in turn met Brierly in 1947 during a trip to see Cassady in Denver and established a friendship with him. In 1950, Brierly wrote an article for the Denver Post about Kerouac's first published novel, The Town and the City
, and organized a book signing for him in Denver. Kerouac's second novel, On the Road
(1957), loosely fictionalized his experiences in the late 1940s, with a focus on his friendship with Cassady. Brierly accordingly had a major role in early manuscripts, which provided important context for Cassady's depiction, but Kerouac also took the opportunity to satirize Brierly at length. Due in part to the publisher's fear of a libel suit from Brierly, considered one of the few "respectable" figures in the book, Kerouac substantially trimmed his depiction. Brierly appears in the final published novel only in brief passages, as the comical, minor character "Denver D. Doll." Kerouac's original portrayal of Brierly was finally published in 2007, in On the Road: The Original Scroll. Kerouac also included references to Brierly in Visions of Cody
as "Justin G. Mannerly," and in Book of Dreams
as "Manley Mannerly."
As a practicing attorney, Brierly served as an assistant to the president of Colorado Women's College
following his retirement from the public schools. In 1972, Brierly founded the Martha Faure Carson Library at the Colorado Women's College, in honor of a friend who had been one of Denver's noted dance teachers. Upon Brierly's death, it was renamed the Carson-Brierly Dance Library, and it is now part of the Penrose Library at the University of Denver
.
Brierly died in Denver in April 1985, at the age of 79. His obituary in the Rocky Mountain News
called him "one of Denver's most distinguished educators."
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
society, noted for his efforts to place students into prominent universities, and as a patron of the performing arts. He is also remembered for his association with Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
icons Neal Cassady
Neal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
and Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
.
Educational career and mentorship
Brierly was a graduate of Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He helped form a talent agency there before returning to Denver, where he became an English literature teacher and guidance counselor at East High School. Brierly took an active role in mentoring young men he considered bright students, to help motivate them and use his connections to place them in college. After fourteen years as a teacher, Brierly was appointed as the supervisor of college and scholarship guidance for Denver Public Schools. He also served as a committee member of the Ivy League Scholarship Board in Denver. Future aerospace CEO and Defense Department official Norman Ralph Augustine
Norman Ralph Augustine
Norman Ralph Augustine is a U.S. aerospace businessman who served as Under Secretary of the Army from 1975-77. Augustine currently serves as chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee.-Career:...
was among the students Brierly mentored. During World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
invited Brierly to England as a consultant on the evacuation of children from urban areas at risk from German bombing. Brierly retired from the school system in 1971, after thirty-six years of service.
Brierly and the Beat writers
In 1941, Brierly met Neal CassadyNeal Cassady
Neal Leon Cassady was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s. He served as the model for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road....
, then a 15-year old juvenile delinquent who would become a significant influence on the Beat writers and a countercultural icon in his own right. Impressed by Cassady's high IQ, Brierly took an active role in Cassady's life over the next few years, helping admit him to high school, encouraging and supervising his reading, and finding employment for him. Cassady continued his criminal activities, however, and was repeatedly arrested from 1942 to 1944; on at least one of these occasions, he was released by law enforcement into Brierly's safekeeping. He and Brierly actively exchanged letters during this period even through Cassady's intermittent incarcerations; these represent Cassady's earliest surviving letters. Brierly, apparently a closeted homosexual, is also believed to have been responsible for Cassady's first homosexual experience.
Cassady was introduced in 1946 to future Beat Generation literary icons Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
and Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
by another Brierly protégé, Hal Chase, who Brierly had helped place at Columbia University. Kerouac in turn met Brierly in 1947 during a trip to see Cassady in Denver and established a friendship with him. In 1950, Brierly wrote an article for the Denver Post about Kerouac's first published novel, The Town and the City
The Town and the City
The Town and the City is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Harcourt Brace in 1950. This was the first major work published by Kerouac, who later became famous for his second novel On the Road . Like all of Jack Kerouac's major works, The Town and the City is essentially an autobiographical...
, and organized a book signing for him in Denver. Kerouac's second novel, On the Road
On the Road
On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. It is a largely autobiographical work that was based on the spontaneous road trips of Kerouac and his friends across mid-century America. It is often considered a defining work of...
(1957), loosely fictionalized his experiences in the late 1940s, with a focus on his friendship with Cassady. Brierly accordingly had a major role in early manuscripts, which provided important context for Cassady's depiction, but Kerouac also took the opportunity to satirize Brierly at length. Due in part to the publisher's fear of a libel suit from Brierly, considered one of the few "respectable" figures in the book, Kerouac substantially trimmed his depiction. Brierly appears in the final published novel only in brief passages, as the comical, minor character "Denver D. Doll." Kerouac's original portrayal of Brierly was finally published in 2007, in On the Road: The Original Scroll. Kerouac also included references to Brierly in Visions of Cody
Visions of Cody
Visions of Cody is an experimental novel by Jack Kerouac. It was written in 1951-1952, and though not published in its entirety until 1973, it had by then achieved an underground reputation...
as "Justin G. Mannerly," and in Book of Dreams
Book of Dreams (novel)
Book of Dreams is an experimental novel published by Jack Kerouac in 1960, culled from the dream journal he kept from 1952 to 1960. In it Kerouac tries to continue plot-lines with characters from his books as he sees them in his dreams...
as "Manley Mannerly."
Other endeavors and later life
Brierly was a prominent supporter of the performing arts in Denver. He was a director of the Central City Opera House Association between 1937 and 1948. He was also a trustee of Colorado Outward Bound School, a board member of the American Council of Émigrés in the Professions, and adviser to the board of the Institute of International Education.As a practicing attorney, Brierly served as an assistant to the president of Colorado Women's College
Colorado Women's College
Colorado Woman's College was a private woman's college located in Denver, Colorado. It was opened in 1909 and closed in 1982 when its assets were acquired by the University of Denver.-History:CWC was founded by the Rev...
following his retirement from the public schools. In 1972, Brierly founded the Martha Faure Carson Library at the Colorado Women's College, in honor of a friend who had been one of Denver's noted dance teachers. Upon Brierly's death, it was renamed the Carson-Brierly Dance Library, and it is now part of the Penrose Library at the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
.
Brierly died in Denver in April 1985, at the age of 79. His obituary in the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
called him "one of Denver's most distinguished educators."