Who was not a famous photographer at that time?

Patti Smith: (laughs)

No, he wasn't a famous anything, I mean

It's very funny though, because sometimes

people read my book and they say --

"Well, you drop all these names, you seem like you ran around

with all these famous people..."

None of us were famous, even Allen Ginsberg wasn't famous

I mean -- there was a cult of people that appreciated him,

but none of most of the Beat poets -- Gregory Corso never had any money

everybody was scrambling, Jim Carroll was just a kid

It wasn't -- The cult of celebrity was not so big then,

even rockstars that I met that lived in the Chelsea Hotel at the same time as us

They weren't much different.

I met Robert by chance.

I met him going to Brooklyn, looking for some friends

And my friends had moved, and they told me to go in the room

and ask the boy in there if he knew where they went.

So I went in the room, and there was a boy sleeping.

And I stood there and looked at him,

And it was like looking at a shepherd boy, sleeping.

'Cause he had all these masses of dark curly hair...

He was this slender boy, sleeping peacefully.

And he woke up and I was standing there, and he smiled at me.

And from that moment, it just seemed like we were destined to be friends.

Or destined to know each other. It's just, his smile was so, totally welcoming:

It held nothing back. I was just a stranger standing in front of him.

And that was my first meeting with Robert.

Interviewer: And, the second meeting you had, or encounter, was in Tompkin Square Park?

Patti Smith: No, that was the third.

(Laughter)

Patti Smith: The second was -- Robert also worked in a bookstore.

He worked in this bookstore named Brentano's, he worked downtown,

And I worked uptown in the same bookstore. And he had some kind of credit slip,

He wanted to buy something, and he came in to my bookstore uptown, because they sold ethnic jewelry.

And there was a persian necklace there, that I really loved. It wasn't expensive,

but it wasn't -- It was very simple, but it seemed mystical to me. And I really wanted it,

but I didn't have the money to buy it. So Robert came in, and we said hello,

And... he remembered me. And he was there for like an hour,

looking at every single thing. Then he pointed to the Persian necklace

And said: I want that. And I couldn't believe he picked the -- 'Cause there wer hundreds of things there --

That he picked the one thing that I wanted. So I wrapped it up, and gave it to him.

And to this day, I don't know how I got the guts, or the balls, to say this, but I said to him:

"Don't give it to any girl but me."

(Laughter) (Applause)

And he said "I won't". And he left. And then the next time I met him, uh, I was in a funny situation

Because a week had gone by, working... In New york City, you have to work 2 weeks

before you get a paycheck. I didn't know that, and -- 'Cause it was not like that in New Jersey,

And I was so hungry, and I had worked for a week, stood in line for my paycheck and they said:

"No, next week."

And I was really crying. I was so, so disappointed, and then, this guy asked me for dinner.

If I wanted to go out for dinner. A strange guy, an older guy, 30 years old... But he was kind of square, you know.

Oh I was really nervous, I had never gone out with an older guy before, and my mother always said, you know:

"Don't take anything from strangers, 'cause they always want something in return"

Especially a guy. So, I was thinking: "Oh... alright"

But I was so hungry I decided to go. So he took me to eat, and I was nervous the whole time,

and then we walked down to Tomkin Square Park, which was the East village,

The grittiest of the parks, and the coolest, and uh, It's where all the hippies slept and everything.

And I was sitting there on a park bench with them, and he asked me to come up to his appartment and have a cocktail.

And I thought: "This is just what my mother told me about."

So I was trying to figure out what to do and how to get out of this,

And I was really nervous, 'caus I was -- It just seemed like such a difficult situation

And all of sudden, I looked, and coming up the path was the boy! Was Robert!

And I didn't even know his name, actually, he was just "the boy"

and I saw him, and I just impulsively ran up to him, and I said:

"Uh, do you remember me?" and he said "Of course!"

and I said "Would you pretend you're my boyfriend?" and he said "Yes" !

So I took him over to the guy, and uh, I said: "This is my boyfriend. He's really mad."

And I said "So, I have to go!" And the guy was like, looking at me like...

like I was crazy, and I grabbed Robert's hand and I said: "Run!"

(Laughs)

So Robert and I ran, you know, ran away, and then finally, we sat on a stoop, and I said:

"Oh, thank you, you saved my life"

And then I said "Well, I guess we should exchange names, my name is Patti."

And he said "My name is Bob". And I said: "Bob? You don't really seem like a Bob. Can I call you Robert?"

And he said "Sure". So, I called him Robert and then, after time, everybody called him Robert."

(Applause)

Interviewer: But "Just Kids" begins with Robert dying, and it gives a story of your relationship, alight of intensity.

It's a story of love, but it is also a story of loss.

Patti Smith: Well I think it's also a story of unconditional friendship.

I think really, love and loss are the -- is framed in that, but the heart of it

is what true friendship is all about.

I mean, Robert, you know, was my boyfriend

And it was heartbreaking for both of us to go through the transition

of going from being so intimate, to being friends.

And, naturally, this would break up most couples, and --

But Robert and I had something so much deeper than things like, well

Sex and things like that, which -- all of these things were important. You know, lliving together, uh...

You know, being true to one another, being physically intimate, they're all beautiful things.

But the thing that we had transcended everything. And that's -- was that we -- bonded through our work

And, both of us felt magnified by the other. Both of us completed our self confidence

And our belief in ourselves as an artist through the other. And it was so strong, that I still feel it today.

If I falter, if I feel lacking in confidence, I can access that part of him that believes in me,

And I feel stronger. And there is no reason to give that up. There was no reason

to give -- give up, you know, other things that we shared

Like our common laughter, 'cause we laughed alot, and uh -- and really, had he lived,

I know that we would've worked and collaborated, and laughed 'till the end of our lives,

'Cause we were only a month apart, and I always thought we'd know each other forever.

And of course we do, in a certain way, but I never imagined that he would die so young.

But, uhm, I cherish that thing that we nourished, and that we saved.

You know, we -- if we couldn't save our, you know, relationship as a couple,

We saved something more precious. So I think that is at the heart of the book.