Book excerpt: She was the unchallenged queen of the New York rock scene...Dorothy Parker of Max's Kansas City' - Rolling Stone From the pubs of the Sydney Push to New York's legendary nightclubs, Lillian Roxon set the pace for an era that changed the world. Born in Mussolini's Italy, she arrived as a child in Brisbane at the height of the Second World War. Audacious, independent and fiercely intelligent, by eighteen she was cutting her writing teeth in the colourful world of Sydney tabloid journalism and was a key member of the Sydney Push. She moved to New York in 1960, just in time for a cultural revolution that celebrated youth, sexual freedom, women's liberation - and rock and roll. Embracing the new scene with gusto, she became the centre of a circle that included Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Jim Morrison and David Bowie. Linda Eastman confided in her about her first date with Paul, and Germaine Greer dedicated The Female Eunuch to her. Her Rock Encycylopedia, published in 1969, was the first book of its kind and established Roxon as a leading critic and chronicler of rock culture. When she died suddenly in 1973, she left behind a body of work full of the energy, irreverence and idealism of her times. Drawing on Roxon's personal papers and extensive interviews with those who knew her, Mother of Rock is a riveting portrait of an Australian trailblazer. It also contains a generous selection of Roxon's own writing, including material from her Rock Encyclopedia, which revolutionised the way rock music was perceived.