Rocking Tributes
Brought to you by Blair Sorrel
author of A Schizoid at Smith: How Overparenting Leads to Underachieving
Rocking Tributes lets you ride your reminiscence bump.
That’s when you became you. Experiencing your flagship firsts and the music you associate with them. High hopes as a freshman in college, exhilaration on a trip abroad, bittersweet pangs of searing infatuation, yawning sleeplessness in the big city, jitters at starting an entry level job, or even the despair of a poignant breakup. We let you fill in the blanks with those tunes/vignettes and create a unique autobiographical template – all for a song!
What you recall from your teens to early twenties is the most memorable.
“A Schizoid at Smith” captured mine in classic rock that still echoes on campuses. But now it’s your turn on the turntable or download to tell the soundtrack of your life. The melodies you cherish and the special events they rekindle. Record those pulsing remembrances in this novel keepsake. Time travel back to the good old days and savor those evocative times for good.
OF WOOFS AND WOOFERS, FANGIRLS’ DESPERATE SCREAMS AND UNREQUITED DREAMS:
Paul McCartney revealed that the backward recordings on “Free as a Bird” were added “to give all those Beatles nuts something to do.”
Rocking Tributes gives dogged fans the nuts and bolts to do something more constructive in their free time than decode The White Album.
Let me elucidate: somewhere between “Paul was Dead” and “The Walrus Was Paul,” I found my clue or it found me. Not quite as intimate as The Fab Four crooning some other smitten girl’s moniker (“Michelle”) not mine. But there it was, clear as a clarion, my sobriquet, Sheepdog, the first word John and Paul barked from their kissable lips in “Hey Bulldog.” So many moons and sleepless slumber parties ago did we tweens titter under the covers conjuring a make-believe serenade or makeout session with “The Cute Beatle.” We screamed ourselves hoarse at Shea Stadium trying futilely to get noticed but on oh so democratic vinyl, Macca, was all ours for those three minutes and twelve seconds.
“Music is like a psychiatrist. You can tell your guitar things that you can’t tell people. And it will answer you with things people can’t tell you.”
― Paul McCartney
“If you were to make an “Awesome” mixtape for posterity, what songs from your reminiscence bump period hold the most vivid and self-defining memories from your adolescence? To jog your memory, check out this list of Billboard number-one singles from the Hot 100 era listed by year and click on the year you turned 14.”
— Christopher Bergland, Psychology Today
About Blair
If there’s an afterlife, how ‘bout a better deal?
Blair Sorrel is an open book and a cautionary tale. In spite of her disability, she managed stints as Free Time’s “Dollarwise Dilettante” columnist, Together Dating Service’s matchmaker, and New York Blood Services’ apheresis recruiter.
Blair also worked as the founder of Street Zaps, a stray voltage clearinghouse that the National Electric Code showcased sporadically, Con Edison and the Electric Power and Research Institute respected, Channel 11/WPIX featured, and that former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman made an official public service.
She was the first community representative that Con Edison ever invited to their annual Jodie S. Lane Stray Voltage Detection, Mitigation, and Prevention National Conference starting in 2008.
It is said there are born writers. Wet behind the ears left the womb with a greeting card in one diminutive paw and a ballpoint pen in the other, now the big baby strives to enlarge her readership. A scribbler with arrested development and decidedly anti-social, Blair would nonetheless give you the shirt off her back were she not so modest. Her Ladyship remains a true altruist and a lifelong animal lover.
About the Book
WHEN STRIVERS SPAWN SLACKERS.
Strange as it may seem, some status-seeking parents actually sabotage their children’s chance of success.
Early disparagement imprints lifelong low self-esteem, a social phobia impairing concentration along with a stultifying dread of authority figures. An overall shoddy rearing-style that ensures educational and professional disappointment nowhere near approximating those lofty aspirations. Genius or genes doesn’t factor so much as the fundamental influence of competent, caring guardians.
A Schizoid at Smith: How Overparenting Leads to Underachieving is a breakthrough female narrative instilling greater understanding and possible prevention of this cryptic condition. The memoir is set mostly in the 60s, the heyday of classic rock; icons appear as bit players providing the protagonist’s saving grace. Share this Seven Sister’s struggle through humor, hope, and all that stellar music, her “special friend.” Read on and perhaps you will also emerge a better person.
In this powerful episode of The Live Free Podcast, we sit down with Blair Sorrel—a witty, refreshingly candid author who has not only lived with Schizoid Personality Disorder (SPD) but has also turned her journey into a hilarious and insightful memoir.
Growing up in the 60s and 70s, Blair had no diagnosis and no framework for the intense inner world she experienced. With an emotionally distant mother and an absent father, she leaned on pop culture and rock music to survive—and eventually, to thrive. It wasn’t until age 33 that she received her diagnosis, a turning point that helped her make sense of her past and reframe her future.
Blair describes herself as “an open book and a cautionary tale.” In this episode, she shares openly about identity, confidence, resilience, and the challenge of forging meaningful connection in a world that often misunderstands mental illness. From volunteering and community engagement to writing, Blair has found powerful outlets for self-expression—and learned to embrace who she is on her own terms.
If you’ve ever felt like an outsider, misunderstood, or like you had to fight for your own identity, Blair’s story will resonate deeply. Her voice reminds us that healing doesn’t always look as expected—and that purpose and power can emerge from the most unexpected places.
Tune in to hear:
– How Blair navigated life before and after her SPD diagnosis
– The role of creativity, community, and volunteering in healing
– Lessons on resilience, self-acceptance, and thriving on your own terms
Christine Elliott,
Live Free Wellness
Resiliency Mentor
Author | Speaker | Guide