Interview with Mark Opsasnick about the book
“The Lizard King was here”
From all books on Morrison one stands out for the depth, seriousness, accuracy and criteria of the research it is solidly based on. A tremendous amount of interviews, visits, transcripts, hard work and persistence have resulted in a valid, balanced and realistic vision of Jim’s years in Alexandria as some of the roots of his thought, writing and personality. (It only makes us wonder how priceless it would be to have the same kind of investigation techniques and high standards applied to the Florida period.)
The author is Mark Opsasnick, author also of more than 70 published articles on subjects as music or popular culture and 7 books (the most popular being "Capitol rock").
For these reasons I can only sincerely recommend that you read The Lizard King was here : the life and times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia.
“If the concern of biography is the human individual in all his aspects, it would be imperative to examine his various activities, endeavors, interests, his environment, and his relations with others.” p. 18
ether glow: Exactly how much material did you gather while researching for this book? Will it ever be published?
Mark Opsasnick: A tremendous amount of material was collected – enough for two books. I have another Morrison book outlined, but I’m not sure if I’ll be writing it or not. I’m very much involved with a difficult project right now that deals with documenting the entire history of Washington, D.C.-area popular music from the 1800s to the 1970s and all my time and energy is being absorbed by this endeavor. When this book is finished I’ll sit back and see if another Morrison venture is forthcoming.
“It was at UCLA where Morrison reportedly escalated his drinking habits and experimented with drugs such as marijuana and LSD.” p. 27
ether glow: Did Morrison ever express any willingness or curiosity to experiment with drugs during the Alexandria period?
Mark Opsasnick: None whatsoever. Not one person I interviewed ever saw or heard of Morrison doing any type of drugs during his Alexandria years. He just wasn’t hitting the chemicals yet.
“From this period of his life there are no known surviving letters, notebooks, journals, drawings, collages, or personal photos (in fact, the only known image of Morrison from this period is his senior year photo), and although he did take the time to sign several yearbooks for his classmates – usually only scribbling “Jim” or “J. Morrison” – he didn’t record any thoughts or shared experiences.” p. 73
ether glow: Question: What is the source of this statement?
Mark Opsasnick: Not one person I interviewed who knew Morrison in Alexandria, including his brother Andy, recalled there being any type of surviving material from these years – aside from a couple of paintings that are rumored to now be privately owned by Tandy Martin and Jim Merrill.
“A limited quantity of rare Jim Morrison poetry has surfaced in recent years on the Internet. This material has mainly consisted of short poems that were uncovered from his stray notebooks or lifted from obscure European books and magazine articles. One such poem that has surfaced is a piece entitled “All the Poems,” which was allegedly written during his high school years and dedicated to Tandy Martin. While I don’t have permission to quote the poem directly, I will paraphrase the work and tell that it is presented in two “Acts”, the first of which talks of a beautiful woman who dances in a ring of fire (no doubt an allusion to Tandy Martin’s thirst for intrigue and adventure) and concludes with parting words in which the writer and his “beautiful one” are joined in a dream-like union.” p. 108
ether glow: What makes you believe that “All the Poems” was written by Jim Morrison?
Mark Opsasnick: A close friend of Tandy Martin’s provided this information and I believed it to be true. Shortly after the book was released, Tandy Martin herself contacted me and verified that this particular poem was, in fact, written about her by Morrison.
ether glow: Did you interview Tandy Martin? Will the content of the conversation(s) be released or eventually incorporated in a new edition of “The Lizard King was here”? How enlightening was your dialogue and how did it manage to fill the gaps of “The Lizard King was here” left by the absence of Tandy Martin’s testimony?
Mark Opsasnick: Since the publication of “The Lizard King Was Here” I have spent some time with Tandy Martin and talked with her at length, but she has never discussed Jim Morrison with me. I haven’t pressed the issue with her. If I do another Morrison book, I may ask her to cooperate, but right now it’s not on the schedule.
“To be as fair as possible, I felt it was imperative to obtain the perspective of Jim’s younger brother, Andy Morrison, on several family-related issues.” p. 118
ether glow: Did you try to contact Anne Morrison for your research?
Mark Opsasnick: No. None of Morrison’s friends from GW High had anything to say about here and no one remembers her ever going into Washington, DC with Jim. Andy was a different story. Jim was more involved in Andy’s life at that point in time.
“The closest concentration of bookstores to the bus stop at 12th and Pennsylvania was the infamous 9th Street Strip that Andy Morrison had alluded to, a then-seedy Times Square-like stretch of run-down arcades, peep shows, billiard parlors, liquor stores, lunch rooms, restaurants, bars, and adult theatres that was billed by the local media as “The Bowery.” In 1960 this area was also home to some of the city’s favorite used book shops including the Bargain Book Shop (808 9th Street NW), the Central Book Shop (906 9th Street NW), George Friend’s Book Shop (922 9th Street NW), and the Park Book Shop (919 G Street NW). Jim Morrison must have loved this slowly decaying stretch of old shops and the hidden treasures they held.” p. 159
ether glow: This paragraph bears an impressive similarity with “The Lords” (“But in the grimy ring immediately surrounding the daylight business district exists the only
real crowd life of our mound, the only street
life, night life. Diseased specimens in dollar
hotels, low boarding houses, bars, pawn shops,
burlesques and brothels, in dying arcades which
never die, in streets and streets of all-night
cinemas.”). Do you consider that it may have been an inspiration?
Mark Opsasnick: Personally, I am almost certain it was – because he just described 9th Street NW exactly as it was in 1960. However, we have no way of verifying that. Only Morrison himself could tell us if he had D.C. or L.A. in mind when he wrote those lines.
“Those who spent time with Jim Morrison during his Alexandria tenure basically agree that he frequently liked to surprise and even shock the people around him without forewarning. Often times he would exhibit strange and inexplicable behavior for whomever he was with, then measure their reactions like a silent psychologist conducting esoteric social experiments. His penchant for quashing the comfort zone of those in his company was perhaps just one method of testing his philosophy of free activity, a process of thought that encompassed concepts of chaos, disorder, and rebellion in the face of authority.” p. 245
ether glow: What exactly is the philosophy of free activity?
Mark Opsasnick: Exactly as the line says: “a process of thought that encompassed concepts of chaos, disorder, and rebellion in the face of authority.” Trying to understand Morrison’s teenage behavior is futile; he was a free spirit and did whatever he liked without regard to consequence or the way it would affect other humans around him. It seems liked he was always trying to alter the conventional processes around him – he did things to push the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior and gauge the reactions he got. Of course, maybe his motivation was simpler; maybe he just got off on freaking people out.
“… and he had to deal with feelings of rootlessness, a byproduct of the constant relocating most military families endured.” p. 251
ether glow: It has been widely discussed weather the constant relocating of the Morrison family affected Jim or not and in what way. Jeff Morehouse depreciated such effect saying “A lot of people talk about the instability, yet there was a basic stability because we had families that we did move with, so there wasn't complete shock every time we went somewhere. A lot of times we really were in with a bunch of other people we'd known forever. There were a lot of families that did that.” (BUTLER, Patricia – “Angels dance and angels die”. London [etc.]: Omnibus Press, 2007, p. 5)”. You seem to have a different opinion about it. On what did you base it?
Mark Opsasnick: There are two schools of though on this and based on what was told to me by several of Jim’s friends, I believe the rootlessness definitely affected Morrison in some way. Jim Merrill told me something to the effect of “Morrison was there, but it was like he wasn’t really there.” He had relocated so much it seemed like he was always on the move and really made no effort to make friends or cater to anyone else. People gravitated towards him. He knew that as soon as high school was over, he’d be in motion again. That has to adversely affect a teenager in some way.
“They served as inspiration for his poetry and personal writings (which during his high school years reportedly appeared on his notebook pages as a succession of abstract, symbolistic fragments taken from scattered life experiences), and later amalgamated into the body of lyrics that became the very foundation for his life’s work with the Doors.” p. 252
ether glow: Where can we find the source of this information?
Mark Opsasnick: Many of Morrison’s high school friends recall how he would carry those flip-up style little notebooks in his possession and would constantly write in them regardless of his immediate environment. Several individuals have opined that bits and pieces of this material surfaced in Doors lyrics, though at this point it is impossible to cite specific pages as examples, since none of those notebooks survived his Alexandria period. We must take their testimony at face value.
“For those who wondered whatever happened to Morrison’s incredible book collection after he passed away, it was donated to the Alexandria Library in 1972 by his brother Andy. Each title, heavily laced with Jim’s scribblings and notes and underlines, was likely sold off for twenty-five cents apiece at ensuing library book sales.)” p. 252
ether glow: Did Andy write down the titles or remember them?
Mark Opsasnick: No. Andy remembers nothing in terms of specific titles. We can only speculate on what was in Jim’s collection. Those books are gone forever.
“Morrison’s rebellion against rules and boundaries and his perpetual resistance to authority can be looked upon as responses to his father’s military background, practices that were fostered in Alexandria and stayed with him throughout his tempestuous existence.” p. 254
ether glow: Did the same happen to Andy and Anne since they were exposed to the exact same background?
Mark Opsasnick: Not to my knowledge. However, I feel that Jim Morrison, being the eldest of the three, had a different relationship with his father than his siblings did. Andy and Anne never had the opportunities to rebel while in Alexandria. Jim Morrison did.
“Both Bob Hemphill and John Huetter had kept in touch with Morrison to some extent after their high school days together had concluded. Hemphill had actually exchanged letters with him during their college years and was probably one of the last from Alexandria to enjoy any type of semi-regular contact with Morrison.” p. 257
ether glow: What happened to these letters?
Mark Opsasnick: Bob Hemphill told me he still has those letters in his possession. If true, they are worth a fortune.
This is an excerpt of an exclusive interview for www.etherglow.blogspot.pt conducted by email with Mark Opsasnick in 2012.
