‘So that’s why we share our story. Because we were blessed to survive—but she wasn’t.’

Babylon

“We were coming home from a rock concert and were about a mile from our house when we got hit head on by a young woman. She was doing about 60. We were doing about 40. What they tell us is it’s like hitting a brick wall at a hundred miles an hour when it’s head on like that. It’s been nine years now and I think the biggest reason that I try to get the story out and try to educate people not to text and drive is because that young lady driving the car that hit us, who was texting, lost her life.

When I went to the junkyard after I got out of the hospital, the gentlemen there drove me to our vehicle and he said, ‘I didn’t think anybody survived this.’

“There was a couple that stopped, and I heard one of them say to the other, ‘Oh my God, I think she’s dead.’ And that’s when I knew there was another car involved. Up until that point I didn’t know what happened because it was just all chaos. It was a freezing November night and the gentleman that was part of the couple gave me his coat. And I don’t know who they are, but I still have his coat. When I went to the junkyard after I got out of the hospital, the gentlemen there drove me to our vehicle and he said, ‘I didn’t think anybody survived this.’

“Having a daughter ourselves who was coming up on that age of being able to go out and drive, the dread of getting that phone call is what really impacted me the most. So even though there were injuries between my husband and myself, and we still deal with a lot of the trauma, the most traumatic part is that she died and that was somebody’s daughter, and it was preventable. So that’s why we share our story. Because we were blessed to survive—but she wasn’t. This 22-year-old girl died because she was reading a text from her best friend. It was a Saturday night, she was just out for the night and then her girlfriend said, ‘Come pick me up,” and she was reading the directions and it happened that fast. It was an instant.

When I’m on the road, I see all ages on their phone. I see businessmen and women and they’re checking their emails and whatever it is they’re doing. A lot of emphasis is put on high school students and college kids, but this isn’t isolated to young kids. The woman driving that car could have been 55-years old and an executive…it could have been anybody. I think it’s broad. From young to old, everybody’s doing it.”

‘I called the studio and Annie Leibovitz must’ve been waiting for a call because she picked up the phone.’

Babylon

“For my 16th birthday, my parents bought me my first camera. So, I started taking a lot of pictures. And I loved music. I was seeing live music on Long Island, like Twisted Sister at Cheers in Deer Park. But then I saw Led Zeppelin and all I wanted to do was to go to shows.

“I learned how to hustle tickets and I was always sitting close, so I decided to bring my camera to a show. Being close in the front, I kept seeing photographers in the photo pit and I started talking to them. When I went to see Fleetwood Mac at Nassau Coliseum, I had second row seats, so I brought my camera and shot the show. Instead of sneaking in booze to concerts, I was sneaking my camera in. Then I had all these shots, and everybody said, ‘You should do something with your photos.’

“I was a big fan of Rolling Stone magazine and Annie Leibovitz. I thought, let me see if I can track down her studio number and maybe somebody could give me some direction there. I called the studio and Annie Leibovitz must’ve been waiting for a call because she picked up the phone. She was really sweet and rattled off a bunch of photo agencies to me.

They called me up a week later and said, ‘Pick up People Magazine, your photo was going to be in the magazine.’

“And so, I called the first agency. They’re like, ‘Yeah bring your photos in.’ I went in and they said, ‘Wow, you got great photos of Billy Joel. We have a request for Billy Joel, do you mind if we take these pictures and send them in?’ And I said, ‘yeah, no problem.’ They called me up a week later and said, ‘Pick up People Magazine, your photo was going to be in the magazine.’ I was so thrilled!

“But this is the key moment of my career…from a kind gesture that I made. I met a guy at a Talking Heads show in Forest Hills. I was backstage and he dropped a bunch of papers. I walked up and I helped him pick up all the papers. We started talking, and it was Ken Sunshine, who’s a big publicist now, and he goes, ‘I work for ASCAP and I hire photographers. I want you to shoot a luncheon that we’re having for Paul McCartney, but you have to wear a suit.’ That was my first paid job in the business — shooting Paul McCartney. It was just a snowball effect. But the key thing, to me, is always be respectful and kind to everybody. And that’s what went a long way for my career.”