Legs McNeil

Roderick Edward "Legs" McNeil was born in 1956 in Chesire, Connecticutt. In 1975 an 18-years-old McNeil and his high school friends Greg Dunn and John Holmstrom founded the underground alternative music publication "Punk" magazine. (Holmstrom also came up with Roderick's nickname "Legs.") "Punk" magazine was inspired by noted cartoonist and "Mad" magazine publisher Harvey Kurtzman and the album "The Dictators Go Girl Crazy" by the punk group the Dictators. "Punk" magazine ran until 1979 and was eventually revived for a belated 25th Anniversary issue without Roderick's direct participation. Moreover, McNeil has claimed that he was instrumental in coining the word "punk," although this particular assertion has been widely contested by others. Roderick went on to work as a senior editor for the magazine "Spin" and was both the founder and chief editor of "Nerve" magazine. In addition, McNeil is the author of the books "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk" and "The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry." He co-wrote the book "I Slept With Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir" with Mickey Leigh and has appeared as himself in numerous documentaries on the punk music scene. Roderick lives in both New York City and Pennsylvania.