by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I was in the Philippines when the drama that was ROKon Magazine began in the summer of 2006. That’s when, as I recall, I got an email from the late Annie Shapiro showing an interest in helping me start a magazine.
It was a long time ago and nobody cares anymore, as they say.
I don’t even care, even if I do think about it a lot to this day.
Annie was a curious figure, to say the least. Now, Annie is dead so I can talk about her in a more frank way than maybe I could otherwise without someone getting really mad. They didn’t call Annie “Crazy Annie” for nothing.
But for better or worse, Annie changed my life. Big time. Without her, I would never have gotten to experience, for a few days *being cool.* It all went to shit soon enough, of course, but it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.
I can be very ambivalent about what happened between myself and Annie. I was no saint when it came to Annie, especially in the last days of the magazine. (My version.) But, then, Annie did turn around and start the magazine up again without telling me.
Sheesh.
But, like I said, it was a long, long time ago. Everyone has move on but me. I still think the story of ROKon Magazine is the greatest story never told.
