Being a Patti Smith fan, you might imagine my delight when I discovered she had written a new memoir about her early life in New York City. The book, Just Kids, centers on her relationship that took place in the late 60s/early 70s with the late photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Mapplethorpe, who took the iconic cover photograph for the Patti Smith Group’s Horses album, met Smith in 1967 when she was working at the now-defunct Scribner's bookstore on Fifth Avenue. Later, they lived in and around the historic Hotel Chelsea and became each others muses – developing a relationship that would last for years to come, always focusing on their artistic endeavors. Although Smith would have later relationships with other men, such as her marriage to the late Fred “Sonic” Smith of the MC5, her time with Mapplethorpe was always dear to her, and they remained friends through his coming into his own as a gay man, and up until his death from AIDS in 1989.

Patti Smith talked about her new book on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, you can listen to the interview or read a transcript here.