One of the most interesting friendships to grow out of the early 70s Hotel Chelsea scene must be that between drag-queen actor Holly Woodlawn and artist Vali Myers. Woodlawn, who was immediately intrigued by 
Myer’s facial tattoos recalls Vali as being “like an aborigine priestess. She was a pleasure to be around, and I admired her daring style”.
One evening, at the fashionable NY restaurant, Elaines, Woodlawn was upset to hear a drunk young man talking about Vali as a ’freak’. In a rare moment of un-ladylike behaviour, Holly punched the drunk, sending him sprawling across the restaurant. Woodlawn recalls having thrown the punch in the name of all freaks and out of frustration at her own rising stardom being based on a ‘freak’ factor.
Source: Woodlawn, H. A Low Life in High Heels. St Martins Press. 1991.
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