Just Kids

The summer John Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, Patti Smith and her boyfriend Robert Mapplethorpe wandered the streets of New York City. They made their way from Coney Island to Forty-Second Street, then to Max's Kansas City, where the young artists would sometimes meet Warhol's inner circle. That year, Smith and Mapplethorpe moved into the Hotel Chelsea. As artists began to influence each other and coalesce into communities, the two young people found a place in the world of various art forms. It was a time of heightened awareness—dance, music, poetry, film—and in this milieu two kids made a pact to take care of each other.