Bettye Kronstad met Lou Reed in 1968 as a 19-year-old Columbia University student; they were married, briefly, beginning in 1973. Their relationship coincided with some of the most pivotal years of Reed's life and career, from the demise of The Velvet Underground to the writing and recording of his seminal solo albums Transformer, for which Lou wrote "Perfect Day" about an afternoon they spent together, and Berlin. In Perfect Day, Bettye looks back on their initially idyllic life together; Lou's struggle to launch a solo career; his work and friendships with fellow stars David Bowie and Iggy Pop; and his descent into drink and drug abuse following the success of Transformer, which sent him spinning out of control and brought a swift and calamitous end to their relationship. The result is a powerful and poignant meditation on love, loss, writing, and music.
Bettye Kronstad is a teacher, freelance writer and editor, and theater professional. She obtained her bachelor's degree in theater at SUNY Purchase College and attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She attended Iona College for her master's degree in English education and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University for a master of divinity in education. For more than twenty years she has taught English and theater in public high schools all over the country. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her beloved cocker spaniel, Elroy.
