How one story affected a life ...
Friday, March 2, 2007
Hey Joshua Longobardy,
Thought you might want to see how your story about lost artist Ann Doll ["Art as Savior: Homeless but still determined to create," April 13, 2006] brought things full circle.
– Raynard
[Excerpts from the blog blog.myspace.com/thepackardinstitute follow.]
The Ann Doll Saga
June '06
Ann Doll was a dear sister from the early LA punk scene, an accomplished artist ... and a lovely friend.
Fast forward 25 years. June of 2006. Suzanne forwards me the story from the Las Vegas Weekly (see blog). Homeless and profoundly strung out, Ann Doll—mother, artist, friend ... has plunged into the bowels of Vegas. We cast our nets out far and wide, hoping for a hit. She is rumored to be in jail, but our dragnet pulls up nothing. ... Defying the very laws of probability, we had all somehow managed to find our way onto the path of recovery. The grace of God is a truly miraculous thing.
Then last week we had a hit. We found Ann Doll. The search finally pays off. I reach her by phone and though disoriented, Ann Doll tells me she wants help. One ace-in-the-hole we have in Vegas is Ann Doll's friend Kurt (eight years clean & sober). ...We are all pulling together and getting our ducks in a row. I fly into LA Friday, and I'm sending Ann Doll a ticket for LA this coming weekend. The hope is to get her off the streets of Vegas, off the junk and into treatment.
Please pray for Ann Doll this week.
August 13, '06
I was quite taken by Ann Doll. It was hard not to be. She was beautiful and worldly and slightly dangerous and, well ... she was Ann Doll. We? We were these grubby Venice street kids wearing short pants and a baa-ad attitude. Feral street urchins, really. Dead-enders with one foot in the grave, and another foot on a banana peel, sliiiiding on down the boardwalk.
August 27, '06
Just spoke with Ann Doll. She sounds wonderful (even in detox), and she's all about it. Ann thanks everyone for their prayers and concern.
O.G. Dave Mitchell greased the wheels ... putting $200 on his credit card. I'm posting Dave a $50 check. If anyone else can help, contact Dave Mitchell.
Any extra funds Dave can put toward a "care package" upon Ann's release. ... Once again, I am immensely proud to be a part of the old school LA punk rockers—those who have stepped up, and locked step. Those who are walkin' the talk.
September 3, '06
Yesterday morning Ann Doll arrived in LA from Vegas, and we were able to have her admitted to the Mt. Olive Psychiatric detox in Sylmar. After years on the streets she looks surprisingly intact—and of course she is the same, beautiful Ann Doll we all loved.
... We realize this is but a beginning. The real work comes for Ann Doll in the days and weeks ahead. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and Ann Doll has taken that first, terrifying step forward. We will continue to take this journey with her, shoulder to shoulder—as we trudge the road to happy destiny.
September 8, '06
She left Tarzana Detox, yesterday morning, in a limo ... thank you Nicca—she arrived at her destination a half-hour early, so she asked the driver to cruise the beach; she hadn't seen the old stomping grounds in a few years, and just wanted to smell the sea.
Upon her arrival she told the driver she was sorry she didn't have any money to tip him, and he told her that her staying sober would be a great tip!
... We went for coffee down on Main St., and Annie kept saying, "I can't believe I'm sitting here with you, and all of you came together for me. I owe you all so much."
November 2, '06
My Homegirls!
I'm pleased to report that Ann Doll is doing well in long-term residential, and I've commissioned a painting from her. I can't wait.
November 5, '06
Went to a photo show—Ann and I had a blast! We ran into a few people we know. And saw a lot of people that looked really familiar, yet we weren't quite sure.
February 23, '07
[email protected]
For those of you that followed Ann Doll's story last year—see blogs below—I am pleased to report that she's doing wonderfully. She is living and painting in Santa Monica. Sonja and I are looking forward to the next Dogtown O.G. reunion this Summer.
For her first project "A.D." (After Drugs) ... Jodi Kriebaum of St. Louis commissioned this work, and gifted it to me. Working from my daughter Sonja's photographic self-portrait, Ann Doll has created a work so vivid ... so expressive ... it fairly leaps from the canvas. Recovery has clearly unleashed an entirely new and electrifying stage of this artist.