My Greenwich Village

"Terri Thal, who was at the center of the Greenwich Village folk music bohemia, has some great stories to tell about the people she knew and loved and didn't love so much. But like the best memoirs, hers mainly tells her own story, as an experimenter and expeditionary, a doer as well as a seeker, part of some amazing crowds but always her candid self." ~Sean Wilentz, Professor of American History, Princeton University author of The Rise of American Democracy and Bob Dylan in America

"I was fascinated, amused, and very pleased by Terri’s memoir. Fascinated by a unique view of a scene we usually only see from the perspective of performers, and too often from male performers—I was sometimes reminded of Diane DiPrima’s memoir of the beats in an overlapping period. Amused because of the lightness, humour, and quirky individuality of Terri’s writing. And pleased because it gave me a better understanding of Dave Van Ronk, one of my dearest friends and deepest influences, as well as new insights into other friends and influences, from Roy Berkeley to Bob Dylan. It is an important addition to the growing body of work on the Greenwich Village scene of that time, putting the folk scene in a broader perspective, and a tale well told." ~Elijah Wald, musician and music historian

"No one was closer to all of it in Greenwich Village than Terri Thal." ~Tom Paxton, folk singer-songwriter

"I opened this book expecting to revive the memories of a magical decade and I was not disappointed. Along the way, I was reminded of much that we found remiss and our struggles to make things better. Terri’s journey, so eloquently narrated here, weaves the music, news events, and culture of the last half century into a story we might all recognize, leaving me envious of her honesty, compassion and achievement." ~David Wilson, Former Editor, Broadside of Boston

"A fabulous glimpse into an era of music and politics that changed everything. Just as fascinating as Terri Thal’s remarkable role as manager, muse, and confidante to legendary musicians who spoke to a generation, is how she got there, and what happened next. With her compelling self-confidence and sexy nonchalance, it is she who should be seen in the cover photo leading the men, instead of the other way around." ~Richard Barone, musician and author

"Terri Thal’s candid and deeply personal memoir of the mythological Village of the Sixties answers questions so many of us have had--and adds to our knowledge of the iconic musicians she befriended and worked with." ~David Browne, author, Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970

"The burgeoning folk music revival from the late Fifties through the Sixties in New York’s Greenwich Village was a halcyon time, and Terri Thal was an “insider" for all of it. Her insights about her life and the talented, colorful, somewhat eccentric characters that she knew make for a fascinating trip through that historic era." ~Happy Traum, folk musician

"‘Terri Thal changed the course of my life when I was 16 years old and she managed my sister Maggie and me. She took us under her wing, introducing us into the now legendary world of Greenwich Village musicians in the 1960's. More than any one person I can think of, Terri is responsible for setting me on a life path of Music. I will forever be grateful to her. I'm thrilled she is finally telling her story in this book!" ~Terre Roche, singer, songwriter and founding member of The Roches, NYC June 2023

"Here’s a new book that features Bob Dylan that Bob Dylan will actually read." ~Eric Andersen, folk music singer-songwriter

"A fascinating book by a fascinating woman who has led a fascinating life -- and along the way married Dave Van Ronk and was Bob Dylan's first manager. And would Bob Dylan be where he is if not for her early guidance? She obviously isn't done, and I, for one, want more, more, more." ~Christine Lavin, singer-songwriter

"When I began writing Bob Dylan In The Big Apple, there were a small number of key people that I was keen to interview. People who were integral not only to the Bob Dylan story but also to Greenwich Village and even New York itself. The most important of them all, Terri Thal, remained elusive. She was Dylan's first manager, the spark at the heart of 60's Greenwich Village, and was eventually persuaded to contribute to my book. The most vibrant and informative of chapters. Of course. I whooped with delight at the news that Terri would give a rare interview to me... and finally with this book, the world at long last gets the whole story." ~K G Miles, author

"Terri Thal’s memoir is told from the privileged position of not only having been there for the crowning, but as a woman on the cultural front lines. Her detailed recall brings a fresh perspective on the Greenwich Village folk scene of the ‘60s." ~Marc Eliot, best-selling author of Phil Ochs: Death of a Rebel

"Some years ago I urged Terri Thal to write a memoir—and I couldn't have been the only one. From her central position in the Venn diagram of folk music and radical politics, she knew everybody and was present for everything. And, mirabile dictu, she remembers it all clearly—even that oversexed Capuchin monkey at 190 Spring Street—and shares her recollections vividly. She's always been a remarkable woman, and this is a brilliant book." ~Lawrence Block, award-winning crime writer

“What it does have is the story of a questing girl in an age of silence, a lifelong socialist, a proudly Jewish woman in a milieu that was very much not, a complete lack of embarrassment over any detail—she made choices, if she was lucky they had consequences—and a voice so full of vehemence it makes everything interesting.” ~Greil Marcus