Valerie Solanas: The Defiant Life of the Woman Who Wrote SCUM
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33. Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9.
34. Newton, interview by Fahs, March 14, 2010.
35. Newton, interview by Fahs, March 14, 2010.
36. Solanas, “SCUM Flier Meeting Announcement.”
37. Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9.
38. Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9.
39. Watson, Factory Made, 351.
40. Louise Thompson, interview by Mary Harron, New York, circa 1992.
41. Scherman and Dalton, Pop, 419–20.
42. Watson, Factory Made, 299.
43. “Valerie Solanis [sic] Interviews Andy.” (transcript), undated (circa 1967), Pittsburgh, PA, Andy Warhol Museum Archive.
44. Koedt, interview by Harron, circa 1992.
45. Watson, Factory Made, 299.
46. Shirley, “Slum Gods.” See also Sanders, Fug You, 314–15.
47. Valerie Solanas, advertisement for Up Your Ass, Village Voice, February 16, 1967, 22, as cited in Warner, “‘Scummy Acts,’” 58.
48. Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9–10.
49. Doyle, Sex Objects, 32.
50. Watson, Factory Made, 299.
51. Ultra Violet, interview by Breanne Fahs, New York, April 17, 2012.
52. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xvii.
53. Andy Warhol, interview by Cahiers du cinema, May 1967, Paris. This was mentioned in Scherman and Dalton, Pop, 317.
54. Rich, “Manifesto Destiny,” 16.
55. Harron, research notes for introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, Mary Harron personal collection, Brooklyn, NY.
56. In a permanent exhibit viewed on April 14, 2012, at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, there is a quote that details this fact.
57. Ultra Violet, interview by Fahs, April 17, 2012.
58. Harron, “Pop Art/Art Pop.”
59. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 185.
60. Harron, “Pop Art/Art Pop.”
61. Coutros, “Offbeat Artist/Producer.”
62. “The Ultra Violet Interview.”
63. Michaelson, “Valerie.”
64. Ultra Violet, interview by Fahs, April 17, 2012.
65. The quote is from Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9.
66. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xix.
67. Tallmer, “Andy Warhol.” See also Faso and Lee, “Actress Defiant,” 40.
68. Harron, research notes for introduction of I Shot Andy Warhol.
69. Harron, “Pop Art/Art Pop.”
70. Jeremiah Newton, interview by Mary Harron, New York, circa 1994.
71. Scherman and Dalton, Pop, 385.
72. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xix.
73. Paul Morrissey, interview by Breanne Fahs, phone, April 7, 2011.
74. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xix.
75. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 167–68.
76. Ultra Violet, interview by Fahs, April 17, 2012.
77. Watson, Factory Made, 316–17.
78. Woronov, Swimming Underground, 373.
79. Jeremiah Newton, letter to Mary Harron, July 19, 1994, Mary Harron personal collection, Brooklyn, NY.
80. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 1998 edition, 211.
81. Rosalyn Baxandall, interview by Breanne Fahs, New York, April 8, 2011.
82. Louis Zwiren as quoted in Donny Smith, “Proving You’re Not Crazy,” 24.
83. Much of the early work compiling the bibliography related to Valerie Solanas was done by Donny Smith. His zine, DWAN, named after his drag name given to him by his friend Susan, included three Solanas supplements. The first outlined different documents and articles that discussed Valerie and it provided an initial outline of the different editions of SCUM Manifesto available (including, notably, her self-published writings). Smith also interviewed several acquaintances and friends of Valerie in the next two Solanas supplements, both of which are cited frequently in this text—see Ruel Gaviola, “Donny Didn’t Shoot Andy Warhol.” In an interview by Donny Smith about his interest in Valerie, he said, “I’m interested in lesbian culture and history, especially lesbian separatism. But whenever I come across something about lesbians written by a man, I think, ‘Boy, that’s creepy.’ But then how is he any different from me? Anyway, maybe about 1989, I was crawling through the stacks of Love Library in Lincoln, Nebraska, searching for a book whose title I couldn’t remember, but I had a general idea where I’d seen it on the shelf. And I found instead a book called RANTS, which included an excerpt from SCUM Manifesto. I was amazed. It was like what I’d been waiting for all my life. Sharp and crazy and completely poetic. Like a more modern William Blake. Plus a lesbian.”
84. Valerie Solanas, letter to Andy Warhol, August 1, 1967, Andy Warhol Museum Archive, Pittsburgh, PA.
85. Watson, Factory Made, 325.
86. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 183.
87. “Valerie Solanis Interviews Andy,” 25–27.
88. “Valerie Solanis Interviews Andy,” 19–20.
89. The Margo Feiden draft and that of Ti-Grace Atkinson of “Up Your Ass” are both clearly older versions of the play than the version Andy Warhol received. The “SCUM Book” had the most finalized version and was distributed relatively widely. At least three universities have versions of the “SCUM Book” in their collections (Hofstra, Virginia, and Indiana).
90. Valerie Solanas, postcard to Louis Solanas, June 14, 1967, Breanne Fahs personal collection, Phoenix, AZ.
91. Valerie Solanas, postcard to Louis Solanas, June 29, 1967, Robert Fustero personal collection, Silver Spring, MD.
92. Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 271. Although Andy referred to I, a Man being filmed in September, it was actually filmed in June 1967. The first version of the film ran ninety-nine minutes and opened at the Hudson Theatre on August 24, 1967. See Angell, Films of Andy Warhol.
93. Michaelson, “Valerie.”
94. I, a Man, directed by Andy Warhol, 1967–1968, Andy Warhol Museum Archives, Pittsburgh, PA. Clips of this film are available on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQVtIk3g7s). Valerie saw the film with Maurice Girodias and recalled that, on seeing Ivy Nicholson there, he remarked, “Oh, that’s Ivy Nicholson, who used to eat my wife.” See Geoffrey LeGear, letter to Maurice Girodias, December 1, 1968, Andy Warhol Museum Archive, Pittsburgh, PA.
95. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 169. See also Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 273.
96. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 273.
97. Though Freddy Baer suggested that Valerie had a nonspeaking role in Bikeboy, Valerie did not. She asked Viva (who was at the time complaining loudly about menstrual cramps) what she made on Bikeboy and discovered that they both received twenty dollars. See “Valerie Solanis Interviews Andy,” 10.
98. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 169; Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxi; Marmorstein, “SCUM Goddess,” 9.
99. Judith Martinez, as quoted in Watson, Factory Made, 352.
100. Valerie Solanas, letter to Louis Solanas, August 4, 1967, Breanne Fahs personal collection, Phoenix, AZ.
101. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 280.
102. Ogar, “She Slept Here.”
103. Harron and Minahan, I Shot Andy Warhol, 109.
104. Girodias, “Notice to Unknown Writers.” Note that there was also a copy of this published in the 1968 Olympia Press version of SCUM Manifesto.
105. Victoria Morheim, Girodias’s assistant, described this in De St. Jorre, Venus Bound. Valerie once ran into Arthur Miller at the Chelsea and thrust a flier into his hands to urge him to attend a SCUM meeting.
106. Girodias, introduction to S.C.U.M. Manifesto.
107. Maurice Girodias, interview by Mary Harron, New York, circa 1992.
108. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxi.
109. “Maurice Girodias,” En
cyclopedia Britannica.
110. CJ Scheiner, interview by Breanne Fahs, February 7, 2011. The preceding quote from Scheiner is also from this interview.
111. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxi.
112. Maurice Girodias, contract with Valerie Solanas, August 29, 1967, Mary Harron personal collection.
113. Watson, Factory Made, 334.
114. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxi. See also Watson, Factory Made, 334; Michaelson, “Valerie.” Valerie denied this occurrence, as mentioned by LeGear in LeGear, letter to Girodias, December 1, 1968.
115. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxi.
116. Friedman, interview by Mary Harron, New York, circa 1992.
117. Valerie Solanas, letter to Howard Smith, September 27, 1968, Dobkin Collection, New York.
118. Paul Morrissey, as quoted in “June 3, 1968.”
119. Watson, Factory Made, 334.
120. Scheiner, interview by Fahs, February 7, 2011.
121. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxii.
122. Solanas, letter to Smith, September 27, 1968.
123. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxii.
124. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxii–xxiii.
125. Solomon, “Whose Soiree Now?” 46.
126. Barron, “A Manuscript.”
127. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxiii.
128. Jobey, “Solanas and Son.”
129. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxiii. The letter was likely written the second or third week of January 1968 before Valerie left for California.
130. Valerie Solanas, letter to Andy Warhol, February 10, 1968, Andy Warhol Museum Archive, Pittsburgh, PA.
131. Watson, Factory Made, 367; Coburn, “Valerie’s Gang,” 11.
132. Coburn, “Valerie’s Gang,” 11.
133. Valerie Solanas, letter to Andy Warhol, January 25, 1968, Andy Warhol Museum Archive, Pittsburgh, PA. Further dates are shown in the text.
134. Ogar, “She Slept Here.”
135. Ogar, “She Slept Here.”
136. Accounts differ about whether she met Geoffrey LeGear in 1968 in the San Francisco area or whether they were friends prior to this trip. For claims that they met there, see Watson, Factory Made, 367. For hints that they may have met earlier than that, see Geoffrey LeGear, letter to Andy Warhol, December 3, 1968, Andy Warhol Museum Archive, Pittsburgh, PA, and LeGear, letter to Girodias, December 1, 1968.
137. Geoffrey LeGear, email message to Breanne Fahs, February 4, 2014.
138. Coburn, “Valerie’s Gang,” 11.
139. Watson, Factory Made, 367.
140. Fahs, “Reading Between the Lines.”
141. John McMillian, as quoted in McLemee, “Dark Superstar,” July 2, 2004, http://www.mclemee.com/id72.html.
142. Ben Morea, interview by Breanne Fahs, phone, March 10, 2011. See also Ben Morea, interview by Breanne Fahs, March 18, 2012, Brooklyn, NY. In “The History of Zines,” Smith reports that Valerie got a few Greenwich Village bookstores to carry her mimeographed copies of the manifesto, which is likely where she stole the copy to give to Morea, given that the first Olympia Press edition of the manifesto was not released until after the 1968 shooting. These bookstores included Eighth Street Bookshop, at 17 West Eighth Street; Sheridan Square Paperback Corner, at 10 Sheridan Square; Underground Uplift Unlimited, at 20 St. Marks Place; Tompkins Square Book Store, at 97 Avenue B; and East Side Book Store, at 17 St. Mark’s Place. See Valerie Solanas, SCUM Advertisement, Village Voice, February 2, 1967.
143. Morea, interview by Fahs, March 10, 2011. The quotes from Ben Morea that follow are from this interview.
144. “Statement of Valerie Jean Solanas Made to Roderick Lankler, Assistant District Attorney,” public document, June 3, 1968, Mary Harron personal collection, Brooklyn, NY.
145. Michaelson, “Valerie.”
146. Sanders, Fug You, 315.
147. Allen LeMond, interview by Mary Harron, New York, circa 1992.
148. Krassner, Confessions.
149. Cohen, “Hung Like an Obelisk.”
150. LeGear, letter to Girodias, December 1, 1968.
151. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 290.
152. Morea, interview by Fahs, March 10, 2011.
153. Scherman and Dalton, Pop, 421.
154. Watson, Factory Made, 378.
155. Cohen, “Hung Like an Obelisk.”
156. Sylvia Miles, interview by Breanne Fahs, New York, April 9, 2011.
157. Margo Feiden, now a famed art dealer in New York City, often went by the name Margo Eden then. “In those days you had to have a stage name, and I was surprised when [Valerie] asked me if I was Margo Feiden.” See O’Brien, “History Rewire.” Glenn O’Brien edited Interview magazine for three years, wrote its music column, and was a definite Andy Warhol supporter. See also “Margo Feiden Sets Guinness Book of World Records.”
158. I interviewed Margo Feiden at this same location—a space she has lived in for at least forty-five years. In my first meeting with her, she practically floated down her staircase to greet me. She was dressed all in black and her hair was styled in long red pigtails; (eerily) she wore a sailor’s cap nearly identical to the one Valerie almost always wore. She offered me handmade seltzer water and frequently interrupted our conversation to tell her assistant to deal with the ever-present sound of her hyperactive alarm system in the apartment. With intense emotionality and careful description, Margo recalled the events of that morning in impeccable detail.
159. Feiden, interview by Fahs, March 15, 2010. Further quotes from Margo Feiden are from this interview.
160. Assistant district attorney Roderick Lankler took notes about Margo Feiden on June 4, 1968, the day after the shooting. He recorded Margo’s name, along with information about Valerie’s visit to The Alan Burke Show.
161. When I asked Feiden why she had waited forty-one years to tell anyone what had transpired that morning, she divulged, “I was traumatized. It was the age of Kent State, where mistrust of everyone was everywhere. I was never suspicious of police before. When you’re lost or in trouble, you find the police, but when they wouldn’t take the call, I feared that I would be a target and that the police would concoct a story about what had happened.” Feiden also admitted that she feared Valerie’s retribution for not producing Up Your Ass: “I liked her. I couldn’t not tell the truth. I felt strongly against producing the play and I couldn’t lie to her about it. The way she listened, you couldn’t bullshit her. She listened on a different wavelength than others did.”
162. Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxv.
163. Sleep.
164. Krassner, Confessions, 256–57.
165. “June 3, 1968”; Watson, Factory Made, 379; Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 296.
166. Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground.”
167. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 1998 and 2003 editions; Harron and Minahan, introduction to I Shot Andy Warhol, xxv. Geoffrey LeGear also said that Valerie denied having worn a skirt when she shot him and that Andy made this up to get publicity over this. Margo Feiden also said nothing of Valerie wearing makeup or lipstick that morning. See LeGear, letter to Warhol, December 3, 1968.
168. Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground”; Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 197–98, 297.
169. “June 3, 1968.”
170. In LeGear, letter to Warhol, December 3, 1968, Geoffrey LeGear wrote that Valerie accused Warhol of lying about this phone call and that “Viva’s being on the phone and seeing the gun are just low moves to get publicity, that there is no truth in them whatsoever.” Harron met Hughes years later; she offered a description: “He is small, neat, impeccably dressed, but brash. I suspect that brashness is his
most likeable characteristic.” See Harron, “Pop Art/Art Pop.” Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 298.
171. “Statement of Valerie Jean Solanas to Lankler.” Valerie admitted to her boyfriend, Louis Zwiren, that she had both of these guns. See Donny Smith, DWAN Solanas Supplement no. 3, 25. For more on the shooting, see Richard F. Shepard, “Warhol Gravely Wounded in Studio”, 36. See also Faso, McLaughlin, and Henry, “Andy Warhol Wounded by Actress”; Behrens and Mann, “Andy Warhol Is Shot by Actress.” For a discussion of how much she spent on the Beretta gun, see Girodias, introduction to S.C.U.M. Manifesto, xii.
172. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 1998 edition, 298; Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground.”
173. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 298; Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 343.
174. Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground”; Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 299.
175. Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 299; Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground”; Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 345.
176. Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground”; Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 344; Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 2003 edition, 301; Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 169; Malanga et al., Gerard Malanga.
177. Mario Amaya recalled the ambulance driver telling him, “If we sound the siren, it’ll cost five dollars extra,” to which Amaya responded, “Go ahead and sound it. Leo Castelli will pay.” See “Andy Warhol Chronology.”
178. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 170–71; Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 345; Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground”; “I Saw Her Walk into the Office.”
179. Sergeant Shea, Police Report on Valerie Solanas, New York City police records, June 3, 1968.
180. Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 345. See also Bockris, Life and Death of Andy Warhol, 1998 edition; Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground.”
181. Warhol and Hackett, POPism, 345–46.
182. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 172; Smith, “The Shot That Shattered the Velvet Underground.”
183. Ultra Violet, Famous for 15 Minutes, 172. She went home feeling both exhausted and exhilarated. “For all these years now, I’ve been trained to experience events of every kind in terms of headlines and photographs in the paper. Real emotions? Real feelings? They have been smothered by our obeisance to the media, warped by our need to strike a pose, smile, smile some more, whip out a witty retort” (173–74).