As any Lita Ford fan knows, she began her career, age 16, as a member of The Runaways, with 17-year-old band-mate Joan Jett.

Formed in 1975 with the guidance of rock music manager/promoter Tim Fowley, The Runaways survived for three years, playing their last "live" gig on New Year's Eve, 1978.

In December 1990 one of my publishers, Alan Rider, put me in touch with Bennett Kaufman at RCA records in Los Angeles, regarding a possible collaboration with Lita Ford.  Shortly afterwards I spoke with Lita on the phone. We compared schedules and agreed to meet in Vancouver a few weeks later.

On February 19, 1991 Lita flew up to Vancouver.  We'd never met, and she had no idea what I looked like ... so I decided to pull a "practical joke".

When I greeted her at the airport I pretended to be a limousine driver.  I dressed in a black suit and I wore a sea- captain's cap that had belonged to my grandfather. I'd recently purchased a black Mercedes 4-door sedan for my wife, which I borrowed for the evening. 

I made a small sign that read "Rita Ward", and I stood near the arrivals gate at the airport waiting for Lita to clear customs.  It was such a good disguise that the other limo drivers thought I was one of them!

There was no mistaking Lita when she came through the airport door ... I mean, she looks like a rock star. She walked into the arrivals area pushing a cart with her suitcase and guitar. She looked around, saw the "Rita Ward" sign, made a funny face and kept walking.  You could tell she wasn't really sure about it. She continued looking around for her ride (at this point she still thought "Jim Vallance" would be meeting her).

I approached her and said, "Excuse me, are you Rita Ward?". She replied that she was, in fact, Lita Ford ... not Rita Ward. I apologized for the error.  I told her that Jim Vallance had sent me to pick her up and take her to her hotel.

I put her suitcase and guitar in the trunk of my wife's Mercedes, and I held the door as Lita slid into the back seat.

As we drove away from the airport we chatted about her flight and the weather, but I didn't let the ruse last too long. A few minutes later I let her in on the joke, and we both had a good laugh.

Lita stayed in Vancouver for the rest of the week, writing and recording at my home studio. It was a productive stay, resulting in two songs being substantially completed. She was very focused and serious about her music and her career.  She was also very candid about the fact that she had recently won her battle with alcohol, and that her life was "back on track". It certainly seemed that way to me.

As an added bonus, Lita and my wife Rachel got along terrifically. My 2-year-old son also adored Lita, and she was delighted whenever he waddled into the studio to say hello (he called her "pretty lady").

When she returned to Los Angeles, Lita completed lyrics for the two songs (Playin' With Fire and Shot Of Poison) with help from Michael Dan Ehmig and drummer Myron Grombacher. Both songs appeared on her 1991 "Dangerous Curves" CD, and also on subsequent compilation releases.

I considered my time with Lita to have been a success in every way.