Do Angels Need Haircuts?

In August of 1970, a 28-year-old Lou Reed quit the Velvet Underground, moved home to Long Island, New York, and embarked on a fascinating alternate creative path: poetry. Spending months in relative isolation, the musician refashioned himself, publicly vowing to never again play rock and roll. Reed wrote verse and contributed his work to journals and small press publications. "I'm a poet," he proclaimed from the stage of St. Mark's Church in March 1971. Though his retirement from music woul...