Phil Ochs: Death of a Rebel

I decided to write this book the day after Phil Ochs killed himself. I began to map out a journey, a time-trip through Phil's life. I wanted to talk to anyone who knew him at all, and everyone who knew him well. I began with the family, spending an afternoon in the country with Sonny, Phil's sister. I flew to Los Angeles and spent a week with Michael Ochs, his brother, staying at his house, talking through the nights and days, my tape recorder running constantly. Together we pored over the archives he'd kept of Phil's career. We found old pictures, forgotten letters; we listened to acetates of Phil singing songs he' never released. As the days passed, the gaps in Michael's memory began to fill in. We made a list of people I should see. I started making arrangements.