When he heard Charles Van Doren, on a morning talk show (the son of Mark Van Doren and notoriously involved in a television quiz show scandal that decade) refer to a phrase from Mark Twain’s journal, Kerouac had his answer.
Kerouac recognized the correct response when Charles Van Doren, the son of Mark Van Doren and known for his part in a television quiz show scandal during that time, mentioned a Mark Twain quote on a morning talk show.