• My parents had three kids right after the Second World War, and we were all sort of sickly. Then I had a fourth sibling, with very serious asthma. The medical bills... So my parents always struggled.

    Patti Smith: My parents had three kids right after the Second World War, and we were all sort of sickly. Then I had a fourth sibling, with very serious asthma. The medical bills... So my parents always struggled.
    "'Even as a child, I felt like an alien'". Interview with Simon Reynolds, www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2005.