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Patti Smith Discusses the Life and Work of Robert Mapplethorpe.

Poet, performer, and punk rocker Patti Smith. Early in her career she lived with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and -- she says -- the two helped each other form and develop their individual talents. (Her 1975 debut album cover was photograph was taken by Mappelthorpe.) Terry talks with Smith on the occasion of the publication of, "Mappelthorpe Altars," (Random House) the color companion volume to the collection of his black-and-white prints, "Mapplethorpe" published in 1992. Also Smith has a new short book she wrote dedicated to Mappelthorpe, "The Coral Sea," (W.W. Norton).

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Other segments from the episode on April 24, 1996

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, April 24, 1996: Interview with Patti Smith; Interview with David O. Russell; Review of Graham Swift's novel "Last Orders."
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08:59

Director David O. Russell.

Film writer/director David O. Russell. He made his film debut with the prize-winning independent film, "Spanking the Monkey." His latest film is "Flirting with Disaster" starring Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette.

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'Just Kids': Punk Icon Patti Smith Looks Back

It was in 1967, on her first day in New York, that 20-year-old aspiring poet Patti Smith met fellow artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Their friendship, romance and creative collaboration began on that day and lasted until Mapplethorpe's death in 1989.

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The Godmother of Punk On Life and Loss.

Singer and poet, Patti Smith. Her new CD, "Gone Again" (Arista), is inspired by the passing of her musician-husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, and her brother, Todd. They died weeks apart in the fall of 1994. Her first four albums, recorded in the 1970s, established Smith as skinny "Godmother" of punk. Through the 1980s, while raising her children in a Detroit suburb, Smith recorded one album but made plans to record new music with Fred in the summer of 1995.

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Photographer Joel Meyerowitz

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