A Walk On The Wild Side With Andy Warhol's Most Fabulous Superstar
Memoir / Biography
Date Published: 02-11-2025
Publisher: Feral House
A young, aspiring writer desperate for a break…and the legendary Andy Warhol superstar who gave him the story of a lifetime.
“Jeff's affection for Holly, even as she drunkenly claims, ‘You ruined my life!’ makes this romp worth the journey.” —Michael Musto
By the mid-1980s, Holly Woodlawn, once lauded by George Cukor for her performance in the 1970 Warhol production and Paul Morrissey directed Trash, was washed up. Over. Kaput. She was living in a squalid Hollywood apartment with her dog and bottles of Chardonnay. A chance meeting with starry-eyed corn-fed Missouri-born Jeff Copeland, who moved to Hollywood with dreams of ‘making it’ as a television writer, changed the course of BOTH of their lives forever.
Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn is a story of how an unlikely friendship with a young gay writer and an, ahem, mature trans actress and performer created the bestselling autobiography of 1991, A Low Life in High Heels. This book about writing a book is a celebration of chutzpa and love as Holly, the embodiment of Auntie Mame, introduces Jeff to the glamorous (and sometimes larcenous) world of a Warhol Superstar. In turn, Jeff uses his writing (and typing) talent to give Holly the second chance at fame she craved.
In turns hilarious and heartwarming, Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn is a portrait of the real Holly who loved deeply, laughed loudly, and left mayhem in her wake.
Interview with Jeff Copeland, author of Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn
Hi Nancy! Thank you so much for your interest. I really appreciate it.
You’re welcome. Thank you for joining us today.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Getting my first book published was a major confidence booster because after years of rejection, I finally felt like a real writer. And that was a big deal. But it didn’t change my writing process. The invention of the personal computer is what changed my writing process. I started writing on an old 1957 Royal typewriter that my grandmother had in the basement. You had to have strong fingers to bang out a sentence in those days!
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
Throughout junior high and high school, I was bullied and made fun of because I was an awkward, unattractive kid. I was the unfortunate kid who was always the last one picked for a team, and always felt like the class loser. When I was a junior in high school, my English teacher gave us an assignment to keep a journal for two weeks. We could write whatever we wanted, just as long as we wrote in it daily. So I wrote a bunch of crazy, funny stuff and she loved it so much that she read it aloud to the entire class. And that’s when I learned I had something the popular kids didn’t, and it was special and transportive, and gave me the power to escape.
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
A high pressure demanding career because it will only distract you from the stories you were meant to write.
Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?
I grew up in Missouri and ran off to Los Angeles when I was 22. I’m very much a loner and an introvert. While I do love to write, I’m not the happiest person when I’m doing it. In fact, I’m quite miserable, which is why I’m so crabby most of the time. For me, nothing about writing is easy. Perhaps that’s why it appeals to me. I love the challenge. I’m currently reading The Page Turner by Viola Shipman (Wade Rouse). I’m in love with Flannery O’Connor. I enjoy reading but I’m so slow at it you’d think I was in the second grade. And I can’t remember proper grammar rules to save my life.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
I would have gotten into more trouble. I was such a upstanding, conservative little prude as a kid. I didn’t steal. I didn’t smoke. I never did drugs. I only got drunk once and that was in my bedroom. And not once did I screw a teacher. What a snooze! If I could go back and do it all over, I’d start junior high by robbing a gas station.
What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?
Writing a good story and getting it published isn’t enough to secure a spot in Barnes & Noble. I’ve reached out to many booksellers about my book, some of whom I’ve actually met in person at a convention. And not one has given me the courtesy of a response. So…that’s not very encouraging, but it does fire me up and makes me push harder.
Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book and why it is a must-read?
Love You Madly, Holly Woodlawn is a writer’s story. It’s a cautionary tale; a coming of age memoir about a young kid who runs off to Hollywood to pursue his dream of being a TV writer and all the absurd shenanigans he has to resort to in order to get his foot in the door. Like being rejected during a job interview, refusing to take no for an answer, and working at that job anyway. Or landing a gig with Paul Reubens because I’d hustled Pee-wee Herman into thinking he’d won me in a clearing house giveaway. Crazy, off the wall gimmicks they don’t teach you in school, that I devised to bust through the competition. A lot of kids spend a fortune on college to go into this field and they haven’t a clue as to what they’re getting into, and that’s one reason I think my story is so important. It opens the reader’s eyes to the real struggles and the real hardships aspiring writers face. While I always got fun and exciting jobs on movies and TV shows, I never got the opportunity to write. For years, that door was closed to me. But I never lost faith and I always pushed for an opportunity, which presented itself when I befriended a washed-up, alcoholic Andy Warhol superstar, who was down on her luck. I wrote a screenplay for her to star in, but failed to raise money to make that movie. Ironically, though, our fortunes changed for the better when my script was discovered in the trash by a literary agent’s assistant. So this is an inspiring, fun story is about making dreams come true despite the odds.
About the Author
For nearly 30 years, Jeff Copeland worked as a show biz hobo, hopping from one gravy train to the next. He was nominated for an Emmy (yay!) and lost (boo!), and has enjoyed working on fun, interesting, and exciting content for a variety of TV networks and film studios, including ABC, FOX, and HGTV.
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