Journalist Tim Mohr, known for documenting the 1980s East German punk scene and co-writing memoirs with Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan and KISS’ Paul Stanley, has passed away.
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Michael Reynolds, Mohr’s friend and publisher at Europa Editions, confirmed to Rolling Stone that Mohr succumbed to pancreatic cancer. He was 55.
“Tim was not only someone I knew professionally; he was also a good and dear friend with whom I have had a lot of fun over the almost twenty years we knew each other and with whom I shared many important moments,” Reynolds wrote in a statement shared by the outlet. “I am inconsolable at his passing [and] furious with the universe. I miss him terribly [and] loved and admired Tim for his eloquence, his moral compass, his large, rebel heart, his consummate cool.”
Paul Stanley also paid tribute to Mohr on social media.
“Tim Mohr-My dear friend, literary collaborator, pure soul, brilliant mind, street food gourmet and so much more has died from pancreatic cancer,” Stanley wrote on X. “I’m heartbroken. If you knew him you loved him. The world has lost a bright light. A huge embrace for his wife Erin, Greta and Augie.”
Tim Mohr Began His Career as a DJ Before Pursuing Journalism
Mohr launched his career as a DJ in 1990s Berlin before returning to the U.S. to pursue journalism in New York. His work has appeared in prestigious publications such as The New York Times Book Review, Details, Inked, and New York Magazine. Over time, his talent and expertise led him to a role as an editor at Playboy.
In the late 2000s, Mohr brought on Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan to write a financial column for Playboy. This partnership eventually blossomed into a collaboration on McKagan’s 2012 memoir, It’s So Easy (and Other Lies).
Mohr has contributed to notable works, including Gil Scott-Heron’s The Last Holiday and Genesis P-Orridge’s Nonbinary. In 2018, he published Burning Down the Haus, exploring East German punk’s influence on 1980s political change, which earned a longlisting for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
Mohr spent many years translating German literature into English, including all seven novels by Alina Bronsky as well as works by Dorothea Dieckmann, Charlotte Roche, Stefanie de Velasco, and Alex Beer. He focused on highlighting the voices of female authors and showcasing literature that stepped outside the mainstream.