Patti Smith tapped into her 'child self' to write new memoir: 'She's still here'

It’s a rare gray Saturday in Los Angeles; raindrops collect along a window overlooking a row of trees at Le Parc at Melrose.

Light trickles its way into the hotel room, illuminating a brown coffee table. An unreleased novel from Swiss author Nelio Biedermann sits next to a cup of tea, and a wood cross string necklace lies on the floor.

“The weather is challenging for singing because it’s so humid, but it’ll be fine,” Patti Smith says, before reaching for the mug.

Her gray hair, with strands of white, hides under a gray beanie. She braved the rain during a walk with her son about an hour earlier, and still sports a mildly damp blazer atop her black T-shirt. In signature Smith style, her light-wash jeans scrunch just above a pair of tan, heeled boots.

She’s 78 now — 79 in December: “Next