Jim Morrison's Sister Reflects on Assembling Revelatory New Book of the Late Legend's Writing
- by Jordan Runtagh
THE COLLECTED WORKS OF JIM MORRISON FEATURES UNPUBLISHED POETRY, HANDWRITTEN SONG NOTES, AN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY AND UNSEEN FAMILY PHOTOS
When Jim Morrison graduated from high school in June of 1961, his parents offered to buy him a gift. Most teens would have asked for a car or maybe some new threads. Instead, the future Doors singer asked for the complete works of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Even as a teen, Morrison operated on a literary level above his peers. His evolution into one of the most arresting frontmen in rock was never an ambition but an unexpected detour. It began on a summer's day in 1965, when Morrison bumped into his UCLA classmate Ray Manzarek on Los Angeles' Venice Beach. As the friends stared off into the Pacific, Morrison began reciting some of his new verses. His voice was barely above a whisper, but Morrison's words were enough to send the musically minded Manzarek reeling. The core of the Doors — their name taken from a William Blake line via Aldous Huxley — was formed on the spot, thus derailing Morrison's potential future as America's answer to Rimbaud.
