Justin W. Brierly

Justin W. Brierly (September 3, 1905 – April 13, 1985) was an American educator and lawyer. Born to a Colorado pioneer family and educated at Columbia and the University of Denver Law School, he was noted in his work in secondary education for his efforts to place students into prominent universities, and as a patron of the performing arts in Colorado. He is also remembered for his association with Beat Generation icons Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac.

Early life and education

Justin W. Brierly was born on September 3, 1905, in Denver, Colorado, to a family whose history included the settling of Colorado as pioneers. Before attending Columbia College in New York City (now Columbia University), Brierly attended Manual High School (graduating 1929), and after, the University of Denver Law School. Brierly joined the Denver Public Schools administration, where he "established their program of college and scholarship guidance",

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.

Role with Beat writers Brierly is known for having been a friend of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, and a mentor to Neal Cassady and Haldon Chase, Impressed by Cassady's intelligence, 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 to future Beat Generation literary icons Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg in 1946 by Brierly protégé, Haldon Chase, who Brierly had helped place at Columbia University. 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 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 —named "Denver D. Doll." In 1937, He became "the first executive manager of the... Association and later served on [its] Board of Directors, Executive Board, and eventually [as] an honorary trustee. The Colorado Historical Society was the recipient of his gift of the historic McFarlane House, in Central City, Colorado, in 1976.