'Haldon Chase', was an American Beat Generation poet. A friend of Neal Cassady from Denver, who attended Columbia University with Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. The son of relatively well-off parents, Haldon Chase had graduated from East High School in 1941 and won a place at Columbia University. Hal Chase was a member of the original Beat circle that first congregated at Columbia University during the early 1940's. He once shared an apartment with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs and was responsible for introducing Neal Cassady to the rest of the Beat gang, an act immortalized in Kerouac's 'On the Road when Chad King introduces Sal Paradise to Dean Moriarty. Allen Ginsberg's acquaintance with Haldon Chase was Jack Kerouac's roundabout connection to a circle of students who came from Denver.
Early Years[]
Hal Chase grew up in Denver, Colorado and received his B.A. from Columbia University and later entered their graduate program. He was interested in the work of Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict but was mostly influenced by his academic adviser, Julian Steward, and Alfred Kroeber who had delivered a series of lectures on campus. Although considered a serious scholar by the rest of the Beats, Chase took part in all aspects of the early New York Beat scene. Chase bought a car and would drive out to Ozone Parkto visit Jack Kerouac. go to the movies or on small road trips usually including Jack's mother. At the end of the school year after Chase returned to Denver, where he married Ginger Bailey after his graduation from Columbia and moved to his family's home in Denver, Colorado. There, Chase conducted field investigations including work at the Denver Art Museum.
Later Years[]
He lived and had a workshop in Bolinas, California where Chase was said to be a maker of musical instruments such as the lute in his later years. Lute player Daniel Winheld said his lutes- by today's standards- are roughly on the level of a very good Pakistani instrument. He moved to Paso Robles sometime after the Bolinas days.