LYDIA CRISS

Hi Lydia,
it’s a real pleasure and a great honour to host you here on my DeuceNews!
Well you do not need any introduction, I guess!!
Everybody of us, crazy Italian fans know who you are!!!
You were born DiLeonardo, right?
Yes, I was born Lydia DiLeonardo in Brooklyn, New York, USA
You had the luck (from a fan perspective!) to be there when KISS hit the big time!
What is your main recall of that period?
I was married to Peter way before KISS was formed.  I met Peter in 1966 and we got married in January,1970.  I supported him and paid all the bills until KISS formed and met Aucoin Management in August,1973 .  There was some money coming from Aucoin Management, but I still paid the bills.  Not until December, 1975 when I stopped working, did Peter take over paying the bills, and we then moved to New York, New York.

You gained through the years the status of great rock photographer.
Superficially people may think it's an easy thing to do shooting at concerts or at rock stars but I personally think that picking out a really great pics at a concert or out of a very known face is rather complicate.
What do you think about?
When I took the second course in photography, my teacher (photographer of Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" Cover) told me that I had a great gift of capturing a moment.  I remember when Bob Gruen ( Photographer of John Lennon's Photos) caught Mick Jagger and Keith Richard's almost kissing at the mike and I loved that moment.
You succeeded in publishing that great book, Sealed With A KISS, and you said "I never would have thought when I first met Peter that my life would end up being documented in a book, which turned out to be the hardest project I have ever undertaken."
Which were the most difficult things to deal with to have it done right?
The most difficult things was the time when I had to be very honest. 
There were times when I cried and there were times when I laughed.  I had  to stay up all night and sleep all day,  I am still trying to reverse that.

You gained through the years the status of great rock photographer.
Superficially people may think it's an easy thing to do shooting at concerts or at rock stars but I personally think that picking out a really great pics at a concert or out of a very known face is rather complicate.
What do you think about?
When I took the second course in photography, my teacher (photographer of Bob Dylan's "Nashville Skyline" Cover) told me that I had a great gift of capturing a moment.  I remember when Bob Gruen ( Photographer of John Lennon's Photos) caught Mick Jagger and Keith Richard's almost kissing at the mike and I loved that moment.
You succeeded in publishing that great book, Sealed With A KISS, and you said "I never would have thought when I first met Peter that my life would end up being documented in a book, which turned out to be the hardest project I have ever undertaken."
Which were the most difficult things to deal with to have it done right?
The most difficult things was the time when I had to be very honest. 
There were times when I cried and there were times when I laughed.  I had  to stay up all night and sleep all day,  I am still trying to reverse that.

Many of us (not to say all of us) have dreamt many times to see Peter back again with KISS with his full power of the seventies, but it seems he has really decided to stay out of the scenes up to now.
Have you had some chance to talk with him recently?
No,the last time I spoke to Peter was just before he signed the contract to do the reunion tour.  Peter only talks to me when he needs something from me. I do not think Peter will ever rejoin KISS.

I think he is too old.
What's your business life today? Are you still working as a photographer?
No I am not taking photos.  I have had the wind taken out of me doing the book.  I am still selling the book and I am thinking of doing a book of the rock photos that I have already taken.
Well, Lydia I thank so much to have let me share a part of your life and please come down to visit Italy and your Italian friends you will be my guest!!!
I will love to go back to Italy.  I have been there three times, once in the Northern part of Itlay (Venice, Verona, Florence & Rome), then  in southern Italy (Sardinea & Sicily) with my cousin in 2001. and then again by myself in 2004.  I went to Sicily and then to Malta.
Ciao & Grazie
Lydia Criss