Cliff Raven is one of the most famous tattoo artists living, and that’s exactly the way he planned it.

Back when I started hanging around his storefront shop on Belmont Avenue in the late 1960s he was very much the sexy rebel, outlaw artist and philosopher.

It was clear to me that he was an artist in transition, mentally, and spiritually. Body art was emerging, and so was Cliff's vision of it.

We hooked up once again out in Hollywood; he had set up a shop on Sunset, the opposite of the florescent-lit Chicago location. Very zen.

Rumor had it that he tattooed Cher. Can't get better buzz than that in Hollywood.

He now owns a bookshop in the desert near Joshuas Tree, which seems perfectly in keeping with the philosopher I met so many years ago.