For most of her adult life, Lisa Julian was known as Spike or Lucretia, a punk rocker with spiky jewelry and colourful tattoos. “She was an original gutter punk,” said Emily, her younger sister. “You could see just by looking at her: she lived hard.”

While growing up in New Haven, Lisa was a talented figure skater. At ten, she moved to upstate New York with her father. Soon after that, she started forming her punk identity, which included introducing her sister to leopard print clothes and Manic Panic hair dye, “which has since become a staple part of my identity,” Emily said.

Lisa moved to New York City when she turned 20 and settled into the punk scene on the Lower East Side. She became a regular at Tompkins Square Park, where she would listen to music and talk with her fellow locals. “She was tough and friendly — much like the neighborhood she called home,” said Emily Rubin, a friend.

Over time, Lisa became estranged from her family and struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol. “Eventually the addiction just became part of her identity,” Rubin recalled. Lisa’s funeral was a full punk rock affair that was held at one of her favourite spots on the Lower East Side.