Patti can you hear me…?

In 2013, my best friend and I started a blog where we wrote to Patti Smith.

Our hero.

She brought us together. On our own, we found Just Kids; together, we shared our love for the author, story, and Mapplethorpe.

Two writers who found each other amongst a group of flamin’ weirdos.

The cultural phenomenon of Just Kids for mid-twenty-year-olds is nothing new. And among women, I’d say it is higher. She is a living legend and the voice of a generation that many try to emulate.

I remember the day that my photography professor slipped a flaccid penis Mapplethorpe slide into the projector. Yes, slides and a projector, at Orange Coast Community College, we had this technology.

Years later, and at another institution with slides and projectors, I dove in heavy. I began to work with Dr. Karen Klienfelder on uncovering the grotesque details of the “obscenity trials.”