15 Minutes: Edie Sedgwick

What happens to 'it' girls? The results can be tragic. Many of them burn too brightly, too fast. Some of them burn themselves out.

Socialite Edie Sedgwick had all the potential and aspirations to be a star, as a model or as an actress. She was a style icon for the brief period when she was one of the Factory's original Superstars, known for her black tights, large earrings, little shirt dresses, giant hats, silver hair and dark, dark make-up. Her style bares some resemblance to Twiggy's mod-look, but not as neat, not as meticulously put together, not really high fashion. Edie was more of a live-wire, more of a personality.

Everyone around her described her as irresistible, a real charmer, with a distinctly volatile side. And for that brief moment, the young Edie was the coolest girl in New York, and best friend, sometimes muse, of it's coolest artist, Andy Warhol, not to mention that she was romantically linked to the coolest musician, Bob Dylan. She appeared in many of the factory's underground films (most notably Poor Little Rich Girl), and had every intention of moving on from there. Her large eyes and incandescent smile became legendary. She even appeared in Vogue magazine as a "Youthquaker." So what happened?

Her family history, her shaky, though privileged upbringing, her rise, and her tragic descent are chronicled in Edie: American Girl by Jean Stein and edited by George Plimpton. The book is a collection of tales from those who knew her best; her family, her friends and partners in crime, and even such diverse luminaries as Truman Capote and Patti Smith. The book tells the story of Edie's "uniquely American tragedy," but it also depicts the ups and downs of the sixties. The excitement, the style, the glitz and glamour, the art scene, the counterculture, the drugs, and the haze.

Ultimately, Edie was one of the many gifted drug casualties of her generation. She was vibrant, but in order to stay that vibrant she required a myriad of pills, injections and alcohol. She died of suffocation in her sleep after her nightly dosage. She was 28. Many blame Warhol for having built her up as a Superstar, and then abandoning her in order to pursue his other interests. At any rate, Edie was a beauty who was always running, until she ran herself out.