Though she is now dead her web page is still very much alive. It is at:

http://www.echonyc.com/~cleo/

It is 'dated' (Telnet?) but interesting.

Interesting in what way?

Although I found Patpong Sisters one of the best books written on the topic of prostitution I am still amazed that she got a PhD because she really isn't that smart.

I've looked long and hard for her PhD thesis as well but seem unable to locate it.

Invented maybe!?

Would love a link to that.

Interesting in what way?

Although I found Patpong Sisters one of the best books written on the topic of prostitution I am still amazed that she got a PhD because she really isn't that smart.

I've looked long and hard for her PhD thesis as well but seem unable to locate it.

Invented maybe!?

Would love a link to that.

Interesting in a 'strange' way....and interesting in that it is still up there. I think the drugs she abused did something to her mind. When I spoke with her on the phone several years ago she seemed....well, paranoid.

I think they just forgot to take down her web page. What's strange is that in spite of having written two well-known books there doesn't seem to be any obituary or solid information on the Internet about her death.

She seemed very rational and upbeat when I was corresponding with her around 1995. But I guess that was before whatever troubles caused her to leave NYC for Goa.

Interesting in what way?

Although I found Patpong Sisters one of the best books written on the topic of prostitution I am still amazed that she got a PhD because she really isn't that smart.

I've looked long and hard for her PhD thesis as well but seem unable to locate it.

Invented maybe!?

Would love a link to that.

Says on her site that before moving to Goa she supported herself by selling LSD and modelling. Would somebody with a PHD be reduced to this? Her video's sound like she's on something. Maybe she's not really dead, who knows.

Yeah remember the book, had a few "interesting" passages but otherwise I though it was a little overrated. Didn't know she died, she wan't very old, what she die from?

Interesting in what way?

Although I found Patpong Sisters one of the best books written on the topic of prostitution I am still amazed that she got a PhD because she really isn't that smart.

I've looked long and hard for her PhD thesis as well but seem unable to locate it.

Invented maybe!?

Would love a link to that.

Having a google reveals she got her PHD after the drug selling, went to USA to get her doctorate around 1980, then returned to goa in the near the end of her life. Her thesis appears to have been patpong sisters, are PHD's that easy in USA? One report says she died of a brain tumour, others refer to the effects of heavy drug use. I have known more than one heavy dope user who died from strokes and brain tumours, so could have been drug related.

Patpong Sisters was written as her thesis.

If you want to understand her you have to read "Goa Freaks" which is really her auto-biography up until a very young age. She was very lucky to have survived her drug use as a youngster, and then she went on to further her education and write "Patpong sister", but I have always heard that she finally ended up ODing in Goa when she got older.

Not a real surprise if you know what her youth was like.

Patpong Sisters wasn't her thesis but allegedly the tale of her research as she footnotes her thesis in the book. I'll have a root through it again and see if she names the institution.

If Patpong Sisters itself was her PhD thesis, then American Universities must give them away.

... we have Xaviera Hollander here in Holland. She wrote the book 'happy ho*ker' . 'Her first book, The Happy Ho*ker, published as long ago as 1971 ...'

I guess she still lives

Patpong Sisters wasn't her thesis but allegedly the tale of her research as she footnotes her thesis in the book. I'll have a root through it again and see if she names the institution.

If Patpong Sisters itself was her PhD thesis, then American Universities must give them away.

Cleo died in March of 2001 in Goa, of a brain hemorrhage. She received her Ph.D. from New School of Social Research....a very left wing NY institution. She was a member of MENSA.

She has had one more book published that I have never been able to find.

Does anyone know if it is worth searching for?

Edited May 31, 200620 yr by Ulysses G.

Patpong Sisters wasn't her thesis but allegedly the tale of her research as she footnotes her thesis in the book. I'll have a root through it again and see if she names the institution.

If Patpong Sisters itself was her PhD thesis, then American Universities must give them away.

Look, there are more than 2,000 universities in the United States, and not all are equal. However, if you are going to generalize, then it would behoove you to at least substantiate it, if you are on the topic of denigrating a country's entire university system. And if you did, you would know that American universities are the top in the world, both private and public. And this FACT, is substantiated by multiple international surveys of educators worldwide.

Back to Cleo: Why is it that her background as drug-taking, hippie necessarily rules out a Ph.d? Not everyone chooses the same linear path in life. And yes, she was a member of MENSA. I also heard that she died of female internal organ problems.

Back to Cleo: Why is it that her background as drug-taking, hippie necessarily rules out a Ph.d? Not everyone chooses the same linear path in life.

I have heard of very few people that took the amazing number and amount of drugs that she did that could function in society normally afterwards.

After reading "Goa Freaks", I would expect her brain to be completely fried!

Though she is now dead her web page is still very much alive. It is at:

http://www.echonyc.com/~cleo/

It is 'dated' (Telnet?) but interesting.

Things relating to Cleo's life can be posted or read here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cleo_Odzer

Anyone with information or recent photos is invited to contribute.

I think they just forgot to take down her web page. What's strange is that in spite of having written two well-known books there doesn't seem to be any obituary or solid information on the Internet about her death.

She seemed very rational and upbeat when I was corresponding with her around 1995. But I guess that was before whatever troubles caused her to leave NYC for Goa.

hi camerata, by chance i read your note from a year ago and if you want details about cleo´s return to goa and her last years, including a jam-session on video on her 50th birthday, already she was very sick, but her spirits still up, you write me an email and i answer you, if we get the feeling that you are alright. what qualifies me : she was my patient and friend the last years of her life.

love etc...dr. sam

Edited June 15, 200719 yr by camerata
Email address removed

Patpong Sisters wasn't her thesis but allegedly the tale of her research as she footnotes her thesis in the book. I'll have a root through it again and see if she names the institution.

If Patpong Sisters itself was her PhD thesis, then American Universities must give them away.

Look, there are more than 2,000 universities in the United States, and not all are equal. However, if you are going to generalize, then it would behoove you to at least substantiate it, if you are on the topic of denigrating a country's entire university system. And if you did, you would know that American universities are the top in the world, both private and public. And this FACT, is substantiated by multiple international surveys of educators worldwide.

I think US universities are very good - nearly up to A-level standard.

hi camerata, by chance i read your note from a year ago and if you want details about cleo´s return to goa and her last years, including a jam-session on video on her 50th birthday, already she was very sick, but her spirits still up, you write me an email and i answer you, if we get the feeling that you are alright. what qualifies me : she was my patient and friend the last years of her life.

love etc...dr. sam

Hi Dr. Sam, They don't allow email addresses here so we can't contact you, but if you can, please do go to the Cleo Odzer group site and share some information about her last year in Goa. I'm the moderator and would like very much to hear from you. We know almost nothing about what really happened to her. I would also like to get a copy of the 50th birthday video. If you prefer to only contact me, post a message to the group and request that it is for the moderator only-- I can make sure it is not posted. I think you'll see from the messages on the site that everyone there has a great deal of respect for Cleo. We hope to hear from you (and anyone else who knew Cleo). Here is the group site:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Cleo_Odzer

Best wishes, The Cleo Group Moderator

I read Patpong Sisters a few years back... I was a bit unsettled by her constant judgment of others based on appearance.

i just didnt enjoy the book. thought it was self indulgent.