The Jubilee Lecture Hall on University of Sussex’s fairly nondescript campus might not be the first place you would expect to see rock icon Richard Hell – but why the Richard Hell not, eh?

Reading from his autobiography, I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp, and clad not in the famous “Please Kill Me” T-shirt from yore but a demure grey cardigan, Hell casually entertained a bookish-with-a-punk-twist crowd with vignettes from his radical life, covering death, drugs, arson, sex and women.

Gossip fans were not disappointed as the penultimate tale was that of the clash between Hell and his fellow “fugitive poet” – creative partner Tom Verlaine – that led to his premature departure from seminal CBGB-era band, Television. Hell’s text combines wry comedy with sensual and erudite language – an appreciation for poetry, lyricism and philosophy clearly evident in his writings as well as his slumberous drawl.

The final image imprinted on my mind was of a young Hell, straddled by a 19-year-old girlfriend, throwing dollar bills around. He may appear demure now but it’s worth betting that his mind often returns to the excesses of his wild youth. Good.