Book excerpt: "Reclaiming Venus: The Many Lives of Alvenia Bridges" chronicles the remarkable journey of Alvenia Bridges from segregated Kansas to the heights of fashion and rock 'n' roll, breaking barriers and rubbing shoulders with legends. It is a powerful testament to resilience and the pursuit of dreams against all odds. "Reclaiming Venus: The Many Lives of Alvenia Bridges" chronicles the remarkable journey of Alvenia Bridges from segregated Kansas to the heights of fashion and rock 'n' roll, breaking barriers and rubbing shoulders with legends. It is a powerful testament to resilience and the pursuit of dreams against all odds. Growing up in the 1950s in segregated Kansas, Alvenia Bridges dreamed of leaving home and seeing the world. Despite her destructive home life and the racially oppressive environment of her childhood, Alvenia graduated high school, left for L.A., and successfully navigated the predominantly white and male-run worlds of fashion and 70s and 80s Rock and Roll. From a chance encounter with race car driver John Von Neumann that jump-started her modeling career in Europe to her years working for famous musicians, Alvenia's unflappable resolve left her impressively mobile in the face of societal constraints. Alvenia had much to share with the world as she crossed paths and worked with a wide variety of people in the music and fashion industries, from long-term working relationships with Bill Graham, Roberta Flack, and the Rolling Stones, to momentary yet extraordinary encounters with Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Prince, and Tina Turner, to personal and professional interactions with Jerry Hall, Antonio Lopez, and Francesco Scavullo. Alvenia's remarkable life forged a path through glass ceilings and blocked doors that reads like a work of fiction.