Following a high school career interviewing musicians for Rolling Stone magazine, writer Cameron Crowe spent a year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School chronicling the adventures of the graduating class of 1979. This became the 1981 book and the basis of the 1982 film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Crowe composited several characters (for instance both Pat White and Mark Kenway were said to be at least partial inspirations for Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli), while others, such as the original author of the For Dummies publishing line Andy Rathbone, simply had his name changed to that of Mark Ratner.
And thankfully, thanks to the internet you can not only gander at members of that graduating class on Facebook, but also find the long out of print, much coveted book that will occupy much of your afternoon.
Check it out after the jump, and in the words of the inimitable Jeff Spicoli, “Hey, wait a minute, there’s no birthday party for me here!”
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