Lou Reed’s Turbulent Life

Woodcut of rock star Lou Reed.

The first time I heard a Lou Reed song I was 18 and floating down the Chattahoochee River in a canoe. A shirtless Georgia teenager stood on the riverbank slapping his paddle at kids swimming nearby. At one point the paddle made contact with a young boy’s skull. I heard a loud “thwap” and the boy went under. The bully laughed as the boy’s friends pulled him to safety. All the while, a boombox blasted “Walk On the Wild Side.”