a note of appreciation for duran duran

My intention was to launch my memoir, Friends of Mine, Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan, today, which just so happens to be Duran Duran Appreciation Day. No day was more appropriate. However, the closer the day came, the more I realized the book wouldn’t be ready in time. I had to resign myself to missing the deadline, as well as the opportunity.

It killed me a little on the inside.

I can take comfort knowing that when it’s ready (and stay tuned for the new launch date—it’s coming very soon!), it’s going to be the best book it can be. I am so proud of the work that went into it, and the whole is even greater than the sum of its parts.

But I had to do something today—I couldn’t just let it be like the last few August 10ths. This one means even more to me. Writing this book, and living with it for the last year, has opened me up in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It reconnected me to memories—some pleasant, some not-so-pleasant. It reconnected me to people. It introduced me to new friends, all Duranies. And they were kind enough to share snippets of their stories, their personal Duran Duran experiences.

It reconnected me to the description “total fox.”

Better yet, readers all over the country (and abroad!) now take an extra minute to inform me of a Duran Duran website, that a DD song has just come on the radio, or a DD concert aired on their local cable station. They pass along photos of the band, links to websites, all with the message, “Thought of you when I saw this.” I feel the need to apologize for the fact that now the band and I are now inextricably linked in your consciousness, yet I am touched and grateful beyond words by these simple gestures of thought.

And so, on this Duran Duran Appreciation Day, I’d like to extend my appreciation to my family, friends, readers, fellow Duranies, and all those involved with this project (especially Patty Palazzo), for all your support, encouragement, thoughtfulness, cheerleading, and enthusiasm for this book.

And to my beloved band, since I can’t express my love with my book today, let me at least express some of my appreciation…

For giving me a reason to write this book.

For bringing so much color to my life for the last thirty years.

For making me smile.

For inciting tears of joy.

For getting me on my feet, in more ways than one.

For all those fabulous live performances of “New Religion.”

For your inspiration.

For keeping in touch.

For staying together.

And, most of all, for the music.


I love you.

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