Cassady

Cassady is a surname used in English-language contexts. The best-known bearer is Neal Cassady (1926–1968), an American writer and a central figure of the Beat Generation. Cassady's fast-paced, nomadic lifestyle and correspondence with Jack Kerouac helped to shape the spontaneity and energy of the movement, and he served as the inspiration for the fictional character Dean Moriarty in Kerouac's On the Road. Through his collaborations with Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, Cassady's presence became a symbol of postwar counterculture and cross-country travel. While the surname is shared by other individuals, none have achieved the same level of literary or cultural prominence as Neal Cassady. The name Cassady is relatively uncommon and in most references refers to the Beat-era figure rather than a broad set of unrelated people or places.