I’ve gotten some of the most moving and interesting letters since the book comes out, and as I don’t have a moment right now to do much writing of my own for the blog, I thought I’d share a few letters. Here’s one I just received that made me sigh with relief and gratitude that people are understanding the whys and what-fors of this book! The second letter is from Ireland and tells a story that could have been in the book!
I thank everyone for your your letters. I do read every one and try to respond.
Happy July 4th. Crystal
LETTER FROM ATLANTA
I’m a magazine writer in Atlanta. The other day I read an excerpt of
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead in our sister publication, Los Angeles
Magazine. That was how I learned about the book. By that evening, I’d
bought a copy. I just finished it this morning.
I don’t usually write fan letters. But I felt obliged to after reading
this book, which is so impressive in its scope and depth. I feel now
that I — sort of, kind of, maybe a little bit –understand Warren
Zevon, which is saying a lot. From my perspective — that of a fan –
he always seemed inscrutable. At the same time, he always managed to
make me think (somehow, probably wrongly) that if I could just hang
out with him a bit, we’d be fast friends. I suppose that feeling is
common among fans of artists, but there was something about Warren –
maybe it was his limited commercial success, his DIY approach to
touring, those amazing ballads he wrote — that in my mind made him OF
the people, and not stuck in the rarefied air inhabited by most
successful artists. After I read your book, I felt that maybe my
estimation of him in that sense wasn’t completely off. Still, I don’t
have any illusions about bridging that gap between the front row and
the stage. I remember hearing a fan ask Springsteen a question:
“Bruce, I’ve been listening to your music for years and I feel I know
you. Do I?” Springsteen: “Nope.”
I became a fan of Warren’s work back around 1990, and I was lucky to
see him in concert several times. The first time was in a club in
Syracuse, about 30 miles from the town where I grew up, a sort of
down-at-heels post-industrial city of 30,000 with a maximum security
prison right in the middle of it. It was around 1992 or so, and I was
working as a reporter in Auburn. Some friends and I made the drive to
Warren’s show. I swear to God, I’m not making this up, but when he got
to the chorus of “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead,” he
substituted the word “Auburn” for “Denver.” I was shocked, and of
course a fan for life.
A few years later, I had just bought a Mac. It was around 1995 or so,
and I signed on to AOL, when it was still a novelty. I was dropping in
and out of chat rooms until I saw somebody named “Velvetnse.” I
thought, “Hmm, must be a Zevon fan.” So I IM’ed this person, and I
became convinced from our conversation that it was Warren himself. I
knew there was no way of knowing for sure, of course, and realized it
could have just been another fan who was fucking with me. I asked
about the song “Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse,” and he gave me an answer
which I don’t remember, but one that made various philosophical and
anthropological references, and which I definitely didn’t understand.
I figured if it WAS him, I was likely coming across as another
dumb-ass fan not fully appreciating his work. So I asked about Julia
Mueller, whom I had read was dating him. “That’s personal,” he wrote
back. And that was that. I put on my list of friends, but I never saw
him online again. I still wonder if that was really him.
When I heard he was sick, I wrote him an email through his website,
thanking him. I knew of course he probably wouldn’t see it, but I felt
it was important that he know that his work had always affected me; it
had me laugh, it had made me think, it had made me see things in new
ways. To me, that is the most we can aspire to with art — to touch
someone else — and his music did that with me. And I know it did with
countless others. That’s a rare and remarkable thing.
So I’m writing to say thank you to you as well, for putting this book
together and making me see Warren for the man he was. As a reporter, I
like stripping away pretense and illusion, and your book did that. It
made him real. And it made his music mean even more to me than it had
before.
Congratulations on a great tribute to his life. I hope it sells a
million copies.
LETTER FROM IRELAND
Dear Crystal
I wanted to email you to say how much I enjoyed your book - I could
not put it down! My name is Sinead, I live in Ireland and I am the
wife of Ray Harman the guitarist of Warren’s touring band that Carl
Hiaasen mentions in the foreward to the book. I wanted to write to
you as Warren is part of our family history in a way and I wanted to
tell you about our story!
Ray and I started dating in mid May 1995 in Dublin, Ireland and he
and the rest of Warren’s band (Tom Dunne, Alan Byrne, Eamonn Ryan and
Pat Fitzpatrick) were hired to work with Warren on the Mutineer tour
and they left Ireland in June 1995 to travel to the States, which I
was sad about because I knew Ray was going to be away for the
summer. I decided to fly out and meet Ray while he was on tour and I
flew from Dublin to San Fransico, caught a Greyhouse bus to Santa
Cruz on the 6th August to catch up with them. When I arrived at the
hotel (we were all staying at the Holiday Inn) Warren very
thoughtfully delivered a beautiful bunch of flowers to my room to
welcome me. We all went for dinner that night with Willie MacInnes
the tour manager. The following night Warren played at the Catalyst
and I remember it was a great night. The next day we drove to San
Fransisco where Warren played at Slims and the following day I flew
back to Ireland.
That was 12 years ago, but Ray and I got married in 1996 and we now
have 3 kids, Eanna aged 11, Sophie aged 6 and Matt aged 2. I have
attached a photo !!
I still have the tour programme and laminate and newspaper reviews of
the tour and in our kitchen on our photo board there is a photo of
Warren with his arm around Ray who is playing guitar during one of
the concerts.
Ray just wants to say that he wished he could have read the book
before meeting Warren to understand him a bit better. Although at
the time he was intimidated by him, he found him to be extremely
thoughtful and generous - as an example at the time Ray was
preoccupied by aviation and took every opportunity to take glider
flights etc. which Warren was concerned about. At the same time
Warren went out of his way to buy Ray a distinctive and unusual B25 t-
shirt, which everyone coveted but no one could find in any shop.
When Ray and I were reading the book over the last few weeks I said
that Warren would think it nice that he is connected in a big way to
our family story, which will be passed down to our kids when they ask
how we met etc!
I wish you the very best of luck with the book.
With very best wishes
Filed by Crystal at 2:59 pm under Uncategorized