On Getting Caught Up in "Just Kids"

Reading "Just Kids" (HarperCollins, 2010), by the great singer, performer, writer and artist Patti Smith, about her life and work during the 60s, 70s, and 80s, was mesmerizing for me. Why? Because I lived through that era. Because although I was a middle-class girl living a mostly conventional life, I tasted some of the adventures and pleasures of that era, and loved the music and art of the time. Because the milieu of art, jazz, rock, literature, and alternative cultures was something we all swam in at the time, if mostly vicariously. Because it all seemed impossibly romantic and creative. Because I listened to Patti Smith's music over and over again, and over the years have often heard the amazing lines from her "Horses" album in my head. Because I bought the "Horses" CD recently, although I have a very old copy of the album in a box in our garage. Because when I played the CD a couple of months ago, it brought so many memories back. Because it was fascinating although sometimes very sad to learn more about the exciting, scary, sometimes homeless and poverty-stricken, but always creative, early years of Smith and her soulmate and companion, the artist/photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Because it was touching to learn more of all they were to each other, and of how loyal and inspiring they were to each other. Because she writes so tenderly about him. Because she writes so well. And again, because she evokes an amazing era.