Rick Dale is a retired college professor who lives with his partner, Crystal, in Maine's capital city. He is an unapologetically over-enthusiastic Kerouac fan. Rick published a companion book to On the Road and The Dharma Bums in 2008 titled The Beat Handbook: 100 Days of Kerouactions. He continues to post frequently on his Kerouac-obsessed blog, The Daily Beat, that he started that same year. It currently has over 1600 posts. See thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com.