Will Hermes to Write Lou Reed Biography Farrar, Straus and Giroux has signed the Rolling Stone writer Will Hermes to write "Lou: A New York Life," a biography of Lou Reed. Mr. Reed, the singer and songwriter who first achieved fame as a member of the Velvet Underground, died on Oct. 27. He was 71. In an email interview, Mr. Hermes said he planned to write a "full, definitive biography." As for the subtitle, still tentative, he said New York City would "figure prominently," in the book, "because how could it not? Reed loved the city deeply, based his adult life here, rooted much of his work here and was a huge figure in our cultural life. I think we have yet to fully measure the loss. He was one of the greatest artists of our generation. Alex Star, a former editor at The New York Times Magazine and The New York Times Book Review, acquired the rights to the book. Mr. Hermes's previous book, "Love Goes to Buildings on Fire," looked back at Talking Heads, the Ramones and other influential figures of the mid-1970s New York music scene.