Later this month, Penguin Random House will publish Nobody Broke Your Heart, a deeply sourced Elliott Smith biography by the journalist Jamie Fisher. It sounds like a great read, and it has yielded at least one unexpected twist for a longtime Smith fan.
In 2000, a Dallas-based teenage girl named Kirby Van Amburgh, now named Kirby Rock, wrote a fan letter to Smith. She never got a response, and when Smith died in 2003, she assumed she never would. But in a new essay for the Huffington Post, Rock writes that Fisher recently contacted her to let her know her that not only had Smith received her letter, he had written back.
In the piece, Rock recalls Fisher telling her that Smith's family still has her letter, which is full of lines like "I think your music is really addictive. It’s so original and creative. I’ve never heard anything like it," and "You are worth the time it took to write this, and you’ll keep kicking ass" and mentions how Smith's creativity has inspired her to pursue a career as a writer.
Later, Rock reveals that in the same box with her old letter, Fisher discovered a response from Smith that he never sent. "Dear Kirby, I read your letter and it made me happy–thanks," he wrote. "I’m glad you see creativity in yourself, the world needs as much of it as it can get, so go out and kick ass!" The note is signed with a heart. Rock, who now works as a writer for a marketing research company, says receiving his message a quarter-century later inspired her to rejoin the writing group she left three years ago after having a baby. Cute story, huh?
Those seeking to preview Fisher's book can check out this New Yorker piece, which was adapted from her introduction. In conjunction with Nobody Broke Your Heart's release, Fisher has organized benefit concerts in the cities Smith called home, featuring artists who knew him and artists who grew up inspired by him. The first one is Sept. 28 at Public Records in Brooklyn. Half Waif, Greg Mendez, Ida, Tsunami's Jenny Toomey, and Birddog's Bill Santen will perform, and the Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay will interview Fisher. Proceeds will go to SIMS Foundation, which connects musicians with mental-health resources, and WIN, which shelters homeless families. Get tickets here.
Nobody Broke Your Heart is out 8/25 via Penguin Random House.
