The Yellow Jacket 59 [Yearbook] Featuring JANIS JOPLIN in the 1959 Junior Class at Thomas Jefferson High School, Port Arthur, Texas

Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1959. Book. Good. Soft cover. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Decorative leatherette with edge wear, rubbing wear, and soiling to covers. Binding is tight and square. 306 pages, plus blank pages for autographs. Many autographs and inscriptions throughout the book. This scarce edition is notable and very collectible for its glimpse into Janis Joplin's high school years. She is pictured on three club pages, along with her class picture, trying to fit in with her peers and find her place in the world. Despite being somewhat of a loner and an outcast, who was bullied during this time, she joined three school clubs in the 1958-59 school year-Future Nurses, Slide Rule Club, Art Club (pictured in all three). There were other clubs in her sophomore year, but by her senior year (that yearbook is also in our inventory), she had dropped all clubs except for the Art Club. Ironically, she was not involved with the school chorus or any clubs related to singing and music. Before the next decade ended, she had become the first female rock superstar, transitioning from a loner and outcast to an iconic image of the 1960s that included the Summer of Love (1967), Woodstock (1969), and more. She was gone too soon in 1970 at age 27 from a drug overdose, just a few months after attending her Class of 1960 ten-year reunion..