Reclaiming Venus: The Many Lives of Alvenia Bridges

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.

Alvenia Bridges is an American author with a life story full of intrigue, serendipity, courage, and resolve. From humble beginnings in Kansas, she managed to travel the world and make a name for herself by supporting some of the biggest figures in the music industry such as Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, and Bill Graham. She currently lives in New York City. Reclaiming Venus is her first memoir.

Maya Angela Smith is an American author who writes about language, race, migration, music, and identity. Her first book, Senegal Abroad, won the Modern Language Association’s French and Francophone Studies Award. She lives in Seattle where she is an Associate Professor in the French and Italian Studies department at the University of Washington. She is also a visual artist who has shown her work in Paris, New York, Houston, the Bay Area, and Seattle. Reclaiming Venus is her first memoir.