Tripping out: Author Tom Folsom re-constructs rebel Dennis Hopper’s wild life

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Dennis Hopper, who died three years ago after a struggle with cancer, spent decades trying to write the story of his life.  He was likely too busy living it to finish.

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Author Tom Folsom (The original image is no longer available, please contact KCRW if you need access to the original image.)

Biographer Tom Folsom’s done the job in three years.

Folsom stopped by KCRW to talk about his newly released book, Hopper: Chasing the American Dream.  (With him was his wife, Lily Koppel, who’ll see her own book published this spring, The Astronaut Wives Club.)

It’s hard enough to distill the life of Hopper in 300 pages.  Just his five marriages and the “Easy Rider” saga alone could fill a volume or two.

But here in four minutes is what Folsom told us about the star: