The Freewheelin' years, 1961–1964 , showing Bob Dylan walking with Suze Rotolo, in a photograph by Don Hunstein. She was unhappy at being defined by the image, and the relationship with Dylan which it portrays, but reclaimed the photo for her 2008 autobiography, A Freewheelin' Time''. Her parents were Joachim and
Mary (née Pezzati) Rotolo, who were members of the
American Communist Party. In June 1960, she graduated from
Bryant High School. At about the time she met Dylan, Rotolo began working full-time as a political activist in the office of the
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the anti-nuclear group
SANE. They started living together in early 1962, much to the disapproval of her family. Dylan's separation from his girlfriend has been credited as the inspiration behind several of his finest love songs, including "
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "
Tomorrow Is a Long Time", "
One Too Many Mornings", and "
Boots of Spanish Leather". Rotolo's political views were widely regarded as having influenced Dylan's topical songwriting. Dylan also credited her with interesting him in the French poet
Arthur Rimbaud, who heavily influenced his writing style. Dylan's interest in painting can also be traced back to his relationship with Rotolo, who had emphasized her shared values with Dylan in an interview with author Robbie Woliver: Rotolo became pregnant in 1963 by Dylan and had an
abortion. Their relationship failed to survive the abortion, Dylan's affair with
Joan Baez, and the hostility of the Rotolo family. Suze moved into her sister's apartment in August 1963. She and Dylan broke up in 1964, in circumstances which Dylan described in his "
Ballad in Plain D".
Later life and death, 1964–2011 Rotolo traveled to Cuba in June 1964, with a group, although it was unlawful for United States citizens to do so. She was quoted as saying, in regard to opponents of
Fidel Castro that, "These
gusanos are not suppressed. There can be open criticism of the regime. As long as they keep it to talk they are tolerated, as long as there is no sabotage." Rotolo married Enzo Bartoccioli, an Italian film editor who worked for the
United Nations, in 1967. which was published by
Broadway Books on May 13, 2008. Rotolo recounted her attempts not to be overshadowed by her relationship with Dylan. She discussed her need to pursue her artistic creativity and to retain her political integrity, concluding: The image of Rotolo walking with Dylan on the cover of ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
proved impossible to shake off, but equally difficult to accept. The New York Times, reviewing her book, observed that Nathalie Rothschild, writing in The Guardian'' after Rotolo's death, noted that Rotolo had worked hard to escape the epithets of "Bob Dylan's muse" and "the girl on the front cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", insisting in her memoir that she had been more than "a string on Dylan's guitar". Rotolo died of
lung cancer at her home in New York City's
NoHo neighborhood on February 25, 2011, aged 67. ==Film portrayals==