As most people know, the Beatles came from Liverpool. 

Elvis Presley?  Tupelo, Mississippi.

Jimi Hendrix?  Seattle, Washington.

Jim Morrison? Believe it or not, Old Town, Alexandria. 

While everyone is from somewhere, the “somewhere” most musicians hail from is often highly correlated with that artist’s overall aura. Unless you’re talking about Jim Morrison, one of the most enigmatic and legendary performers of his generation while leading the 60’s psychedelic band, The Doors.

Local author Mark Opsasnick plans on changing Old Town’s lack of rock-n-roll recognition with his new book, “The Lizard King Was Here: The Life and Times of Jim Morrison in Alexandria, Virginia.”  The author will be signing copies of the book on Sunday, Aug. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m., at St. Elmo’s Coffee Shop, 2300 Mount Vernon Ave in Del Ray.

 “I heard so many people having the misconception that Morrison was from Los Angeles that I decided to do a little research into the subject,” said Opsasnick. “In more than 50 biographies about The Doors, almost all of them just skip over Jim’s teen years in Alexandria.”

The son of a Navy officer, would-be rocker Morrison was forced to move almost every six months during his childhood, even migrating to Falls Church between his 2nd and 3rd grade years. Yet, when Morrison’s father Steve earned a promotion from commander to captain in 1958, the new rank came with a permanent Pentagon post and a Jefferson Park home located just off Woodland Terrace. The clean-cut young lad was enrolled at George Washington High School at the start of the second semester of his sophomore year and graduated in the spring of 1961.

In all, Morrison spent 32 months as an Alexandria resident, frequenting such former downtown staples as the Salvation Army Thrift Store, at 919 King Street;  the old Richmond Theatre (815 King Street), the now-shuttered Timberman’s Drug Store (106 N. Washington Street), and the long-gone Hollywood Diner at 705 King Street.

Quiet, unpredictable
Bill Thomas, a Morrison friend, classmate and confidante who is  a key contributor to Opsasnick’s book, the future rock legend was “quiet, but unpredictable” while growing up in Alexandria. 

 “I read recently that someone was shocked that Jim didn’t even attend his own high school graduation; that that was somehow not normal,” recalls Thomas, 62, a lifelong Alexandrian and a retired official for the Department of Veterans Affairs. “But you have to realize, that’s just the way Jim Morrison was. It didn’t surprise the 10 or 12 of us who really knew him; he just marched to the beat of a totally different drummer.”

Whether moving into his family’s basement after hearing of the previous occupant’s tragic suicide in order to, as he told classmate Bill Struve, “get the vibe,” or walking on unguarded rails tightrope style over a 30-foot drop (as he did during a golf outing with friends at the East Potomac Park Golf Course), Morrison could easily have been considered far from a “normal” teenager.

Yet, Opsasnick offers up a more complex picture of the developing button pusher: “From all accounts, Jim acted in a very much calculated and premeditated manner in order to shock people…he was extremely intelligent, creative, and a budding artist who loved to paint and write poetry.

He just marched to the beat of a totally different drummer. Bill Thomas, lifelong Alexandrian and childhood friend of Jim Morrison

Morrison’s first public appearance was at a beatnik bar in D.C. where he read his verse….While many people claim he was withdrawn and a bit of a loner, Jim could be boisterous when he was around those he felt comfortable. While he was not into any sport or after-school activities, he had a wide range of friends, from jocks to really brainy guys. He never sang in the band or played any musical instrument. He often remarked how he never really liked rock-n-roll. To say Jim was tough to gauge at that time of his life is a bit of an understatement.”

To which Thomas concludes is exactly why he supported the writing of this teen-angled bio of his friend whose story of fame and riches unfortunately ended much too soon. “I’m glad that people are finally seeing the Jim I knew and grew up with.”