First of all, that book ended when it did because if you look at the copyright date, it was 1985. Short of a crystal ball, Collins, in all fairness, could not have written any further.
As a writer myself (yes, that's what I do for a living) I think what you didn't like was the fact that instead of writing the facts of Gord's life, he "editorialized". That's what annoyed me the most. He spent pages saying what he felt Gord was thinking and why he did what he did. And he used a lot of other people's writing to back up his thinking. I really believe that is why no one liked the book. I posted awhile back that there was a great rift between Gord and Collins after that book was written. I think that is the reason. And a lot of the things that were included in that book just plain weren't TRUE. For example, he took Cathy Smith's book, "Chasing the Dragon" to heart and included it in his and much of that was mainly embellishment.
I know you guys think I'm just trying to come across as a know-it-all, but believe me, many things in that book are twisted and blown all out of proportion. But then, the public feeds on the "darker" side of fame, so that's where Collins went. Unfortunately, it did more harm to Gord than good. Collins went for the commercial aspect. He wanted to "sell" a book and make his money, rather than tell the true story of a great artist.
And if you will notice, he has never managed to publish another book after that one.
Stay loose, eh?
LAMS
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"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."
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