I received the cover for my biography of Janis Joplin. It’s coming out in October but I’ll be signing advance reader copies in a little less than a month. This was a five year project, a labor of love that came about because, when I was a teen, I would listen to Janis while I wrote wicked bad poetry. She seemed to be everything I wanted to be — a unique woman who lived her life according to her own terms, an idealist who refused to compromise, an artist. I admired her talent and her ability to show her flaws to the world without apology.
I set out to live my own life without compromise and to stand alone, if necessary, with my ideals and beliefs. But Janis’s life became my cautionary tale when she died in 1970. In the end, Janis taught me to be my own person and not to do drugs.
Sometimes I imagine what she would be singing if she were still alive. I believe she’d be onstage still, strutting her talent right alongside all the other rock and roll and blues greats who recognize that you’re always fully alive with music.
Janis Joplin, Rise Up Singing is already posted on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I’m sure your local bookseller can also pre-order a copy. I can’t wait for you to see the amazing, amazing images and to read about Janis, the first queen of rock and roll.
