WLIW21 premiered the Columbia University episode of Treasures of New York on Sunday night, exploring the 260-year history of the New York institution. Caleb Carr was included among the guests on the episode, and was interviewed about the role Columbia played in the formation of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. The Columbia Spectator has since reported on the making of the episode, with production assistant Sarah MacEachron revealing some behind the scenes details in which Mr. Carr is mentioned:
As part of the production process, MacEachron conducted an interview with Caleb Carr, the son of Lucien Carr, a former Columbia student and a Beat Generation writer who murdered David Kammerer in Riverside Park in 1944.
“I ended up getting in touch with him [Carr], and so we drove to upstate New York and met him in this very cool house where Ginsberg and Kerouac all used to hang out,” MacEachron said.
In the episode, we see Mr. Carr using a typewriter that presumably belonged to one of the Beats, and he discusses the Kammerer murder that took place while his father, Lucien Carr, was still a student at Columbia.
The episode can now be streamed online via the Treasures of New York website.
I thought it was respectful that the producers asked Caleb Carr to explain the killing; they could have used more sensational sources. However, not even Caleb is able to reveal whether there was premeditation. I wonder how often CC gets contacted to discuss this incident, one which occurred long before his birth.
It was nice to see CC looking healthy and animated!