Some of you have asked about the photo on the back of my latest book. It was taken on the 4th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles at the terminus of Whittier Boulevard. In the background you can see the skyscrapers of downtown. Blake Little, the wonderful photographer who took this shot, does a lot of celebrity photography, but the assignment he did the day before mine was of an alligator, who arrived at Blake's studio in a coffin-like box with his own alligator handler. Hopefully I obeyed directions better, had clearer skin, was less toothy, etc. Our photo shoot took about four hours in afternoon rush-hour. Cars and trucks honked and drivers whistled and a few even pulled over, wondering, perhaps, if they were about to get lucky. Below us on the freeway incline, homeless men camped out and a few crackheads watched from a distance, wondering how they might rip off Blake's fancy camera equipment. As it grew dark, I smelled what I thought was burning beans and figured the homeless folks were cooking their dinner. "That's not food," explained our photography assistant, who lives in a downtown loft. "That's the smell of someone smoking crack." For a larger photo of Denise, click here, or on the small photo above. HOME