| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Bensalem, PA | August 12, 2023 |
A series of orange cones were positioned at the gateless entrance to King David Memorial Park on the Saturday that my father and I stopped by. I was unsure whether this little blockade was in place because of the Jewish day of rest — Shabbat — or due to a construction project. Also, a fence on the property bore a sign that warned against trespassing. However, considering the different photos and videos of Spungen’s grave I had seen online, I ventured that the prohibitive signage pertained to after-hours visitation or miscellaneous activities (such as playing the mobile game Pokémon GO, which was specifically singled out). I had no issue going to and from Spungen’s plot.
Fast Facts
Born: February 27, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died: October 12, 1978 in Manhattan, New York, New York
Cause of Death: Knife Wound
Age: 20
Interment: King David Memorial Park, Bensalem, Pennsylvania
"I talked with one girl who used to work with Nancy who said they used to call her 'Panda Eyes.' There was a clue in that. Nancy is like Yoko Ono in London -- people think she's responsible for the Sex Pistols' breakup. Life was really painful to her. She had no self-confidence. I think she was really smart -- she was supposed to have a high IQ. I think maybe she was too smart for her own good. She was really perceptive. She had that hair-trigger defensiveness combined with that sense of being completely out on a limb with someone."
- Chloe Webb
in an interview with the Washington Post, published November 12, 1986. Webb portrayed Spungen in the film Sid and Nancy, which was released in the United States the week prior.
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
Brown, Chip. “Playing the Punk.” Washington Post. November 12, 1986. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1986/11/12/playing-the-punk/0c9a2e49-1912-49bc-ab19-12db39c86f5d/.
Schoemer, Karen. “The Day Punk Died.” New York Magazine. October 17, 2008. https://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/51394/index1.html.
Spungen, Deborah. And I Don’t Want To Live This Life: A Mother’s Story of Her Daughter’s Murder. New York: Villard Books, 1983.
Wakeman, Jessica. “Flashback: Nancy Spungen Found Dead at Chelsea Hotel.” Rolling Stone. October 12, 2017. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/flashback-nancy-spungen-found-dead-at-chelsea-hotel-118648/.
