While working as a community news reporter for the Los Angeles Times in Burbank, I interviewed Dee Dee Ramone in June 2001.

His novel “Chelsea Horror Hotel” had recently been published and he was doing a book signing at the Dark Delicacies book shop in Burbank. I recorded the interview on audio cassette at the book shop, which was playing music in the background, and I ran out of tape only a few minutes in, so the quality is poor and duration short.

That day, as I recall, Dee Dee — real name Douglas Glenn Colvin — was in good spirits. He told jokes and stories. His full head of hair was silver, but still cropped in a style similar to his days with the Ramones. He wore ripped jeans and a T-shirt. His wife, Barbara, hung out nearby while we spoke. There was no big crowd there for the book signing, but people came in and chatted with Dee Dee about Ramones shows and asked him to sign their books. He talked with everybody and seemed excited about the book.

He died a year later of an apparent heroin overdose in Los Angeles. He was 50.