As part of the Grammy Museum’s Programs at Home, it was my immense honor to be joined by rock legend Alice Cooper, Arrow de Wilde of Starcrawler, original GTO Pamela Des Barres, and moderator Lina Lecaro of LA Weekly discuss Permanent Damage: Memoirs of An Outrageous Girl, the autobiography I co-wrote with GTOs member, underground muse, and all-around rock ‘n’ soul Zelig Mercy “Miss Mercy” Fontenot shortly before her death from cancer in July 2020. Watch the full panel in the video player above!

Permanent Damage offers a unique glimpse into the worlds of Haight-Ashbury, Laurel Canyon, and Memphis in the ’60s and Hollywood punk in the ’70s and ’80s, all through Mercy’s heavily kohl-lined eyes — as well as the fallout of those eras, as she rebuilt her life in the ’90s and 2000s after struggling with drug addiction and homelessness for years. It’s a can’t-miss for read anyone who was there (like her dear pals and peers, Alice and Pamela) or just wishes they’d been there (like Arrow, who chose Mercy’s iconic, fisheye-lensed image on the cover of Starcrawler’s “She Gets Around” single).

Thank you for everyone who participated in this panel to celebrate this long-in-the-making,  labor-of-love project and Mercy’s stranger-than-fiction life! You can buy signed copies of the book from the Grammy Museum store HERE!