| 7th February 2007 06:38 AM |
|
|
| Ten Thousand Motels |
Model Obermaier Recalls Squats, Drugs, Flings With the Stones
By David Henry
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Almost four decades have passed since a photographer discovered Uschi Obermaier in a Munich street.
Now 60, the one-time pin-up girl chronicles her life and loves -- who included both Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and singer Mick Jagger -- in ``High Times: Mein wildes Leben'' (``High Times: My Wild Life''). Her entertaining book, published last month, is in fifth position on Spiegel magazine's non-fiction bestseller list. A feature film based on the autobiography, co- written with Olaf Kraemer, opened in German cinemas on Feb. 1.
Obermaier rose to prominence as a member of Kommune Eins, a group of political activists living together in the loft of a Berlin warehouse. With boyfriend Rainer Langhans, she became a symbol of the generation of 1968, a time of radical social upheaval and frequent run-ins with police. Obermaier confessed to having little interest in the polemical discussions of the day, preferring to pursue her own dreams.
``I wish today's young people would go where their heart is,'' she said in an interview during a book-promoting session at Berlin's KaDeWe department store, where she was besieged by autograph-hunting fans. ``It's not easy, but they will lead a happy life. I'm 60 and I know what I'm talking about. Believe in your dreams.''
The book captures the litany of excesses that became synonymous with Obermaier's generation. She portrays herself as the victim of a conservative Bavarian upbringing, emerging as a survivor of the lifestyles adopted by the men who surrounded her.
Squabbling Stones
Obermaier's sultry looks caught the eye of many rock stars, including Jimi Hendrix, with whom she had a short affair. Richards and Jagger squabbled over the German beauty after the Rolling Stones songwriters raced each other to her Munich apartment from a concert in Zurich in the early 1970s. Italian film director Carlo Ponti was so enchanted that he offered her a 10-year movie contract.
An affair with Richards ended as he slid further into drug addiction and reclusion in hotel rooms. ``It quickly became clear to me that the reason for his withdrawn existence was heroin,'' she said in the book. Although Obermaier also took drugs, she never became addicted, citing vanity as a reason.
She turned her back on modeling and the high life to roam the world with Dieter Bockhorn, a cafe owner in Hamburg's red-light district, a globetrotter and a heroin user.
On the Road
Using a converted bus, the couple spent the next 10 years on the road in Asia, the U.S. and Mexico. Bockhorn died in a motorcycle crash on New Year's Eve in 1983.
Obermaier is now a U.S. citizen and lives in the hills near Los Angeles, where she works as a jewelry designer.
``Now at my age, I think young women should have hope that it's not over when you get older,'' she said in the interview. ``I'm a good example of that. I like to give them hope.''
``High Times'' is published in German by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag and costs 14 euros. The film is showing in more than 100 German cities.
(David Henry is an editor for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the reporter on this story: David Henry in Frankfurt at [email protected] .
Last Updated: February 7, 2007 00:15 EST |
| 7th February 2007 06:59 AM |
|
|
| new faces |
|
| 7th February 2007 03:47 PM |
|
|
| Saint Sway |
Another Groupie Kiss N Tell book.
People are getting old and getting desperate or thinking they ought to be despararte. The clock is ticking. Cash in while you can. I would. |
| 8th February 2007 12:46 AM |
|
|
| Brainbell Jangler |
quote:
Saint Sway wrote:
Another Groupie Kiss N Tell book.
People are getting old and getting desperate or thinking they ought to be despararte. The clock is ticking. Cash in while you can. I would.
OK, if that's all you see.
[Edited by Brainbell Jangler] |
|
