Goodbye Julie

My friend Julie Strain died today. She was a wonderful person. If you knew her - I’m sorry for your loss because it is indeed a big one. I met her over 20 years ago. My friendship with her led to that job at Heavy Metal. Se was sort of the catalyst for everything I've done...Malibu Bay Films, Playboy, The Romero stuff...KISS...Fantasm...all of it...I'm not making it about me, I'm just saying what a profound impact she had on my life. Julie was a force of nature. She was not jut a model and actress, she had a great eye and was an amazing photographer. Not her usual subject, but I have 2-3 rolls she shot of my son in her back yard with her dog when he was a year old. From time to time she would call and just catch up. I remember one morning we woke to the phone ringing at 6 a.m. here in Texas. (4 a.m. in L.A.) We thought something was wrong. I answered, it was Julie... she'd been up all night and had a "great idea" to discuss. It was halfway through the call with all of my mumbles and grunts as responses that she realized the time. That was the Julie I knew. That's the one I'll remember. We hadn't talked in a long time. Our lives changed paths and then she got quite ill. But, I'll never forget that smile and that energy. She was one of a kind. This is an old pic of us at a cookout at her house in Hollywood with Shae Marks.