#Laura joplin full
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It's only the motivation and energy of the whole era that allows her to make sense.

That makes it difficult to understand her. She can't really be understood in isolation. I intended from the beginning to look at Janis as a woman caught within the context of her time.

#Laura joplin full

But, it was a full five year project, because no matter what you know, there's always more to know. Then I spent several years of doing research and writing up research notes and interviewing people, and reading the actual writing of the book probably took about a year and a half. Q - How long did it take you to prepare this book?Ī - The first words I put on paper were in 1988. So we kind of felt that perhaps this was the time to go ahead and do something. We came to realize later that by not participating in something, you were allowing Janis to be defined by default, by others. By our not doing something earlier, we kind of felt that we were being responsive to Janis and not participating in what might've been considered exploitation. We in the family just didn't feel that people had a full picture of Janis. It really made me feel that people wanted to know something very real, sincere and genuine about Janis. People came wanting some sense of resolution, wanting to touch something about their past, about Janis. I went down to Port Arthur and attended an event where 5,000 people crammed into a room that was designed to hold 3,000. There wasn't any distillation or interpretation or fuzziness from memory. They just brought it all back, right into the moment, in the present. They brought back Janis to me, our relationship, the quality of her conversation, the intimacy of the communication. I was thoroughly just bowled over by it, the letters. That's when we ran across Janis' letters. When we were getting ready to go down there, we were gathering things they wanted to put on exhibit on Janis.

Q - Laura, what prompted you to write the book?Ī - The real precipitating factor was my participation in the Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial Celebration in 1988. But for the most part, it was a wonderfully rewarding experience and I feel much closer to her and like I know her much better now than I did before I started. Certainly I had moments of pain and anguish when I'd encounter something. So writing this book was a very joyous experience.

#Laura joplin free

But once I dealt with it and I got past it, once I let go of that grief, I didn't grieve about things anymore and I was free to enjoy the person. Q - It must've been very sad for you to sit down and write a book like this?Ī - Well you know, dealing with Janis' death and accepting her death was a big step for me. They reveal her impressions of the early San Francisco rock scene and her thoughts on her rising stardom and subsequent fame. It's a fascinating look at one of Rock's all-time legends, featuring 25 never before seen letters from Janis to her family. In the first major biography of Janis Joplin in two decades, comes a new book title 'Love, Janis' (Villard Books) written by Laura Joplin, Janis' kid sister. Best known for hits like 'Me And Bobby McGee', 'Try', 'Piece Of My Heart', and 'Mercedes Benz', Janis Joplin today sells more than 300,000 copies a year of her albums and CDs. But, she died of a combination heroin and alcohol overdose in her L.A. Had Janis Joplin lived, she would've turned 77 in January 2020. Gary James' Interview With Janis Joplin's Sister Gary James' Interview With Janis Joplin's Sister Laura Joplin