She's been livin' on the edge

Steven Tyler's tell-all, for which the Aerosmith screamer is being paid a cool $2 million, will no doubt be a good read. But just as interesting is "Creating Myself," the new memoir by Tyler's daughter Mia. The book, which comes out Aug. 26, is a dishy account of growing up in a druggy, dysfunctional rock 'n' roll family. Mia, whose mom is Tyler's first wife, ex-Warhol model Cyrinda Fox, writes revealingly about her parents' bitter battles, and her own descent into depression, drug addiction, and self-mutilation. No ordinary child, Mia says she had her first kiss at 11 - with, of all people, a member of Guns N' Roses. "Without warning, drummer Steven Adler swooped in from behind and basically stuck his tongue in my mouth, wiggled it around, smiled, and left," writes Mia, who was backstage at an Aerosmith show at the time. "I was shocked - way too shocked to consider reciprocating." Eeeww. Mia adores her movie-star sister, Liv, but sounds ambivalent about her flamboyant father, who she says is "narcissistic." Mia's sobriety has been hard-earned. She writes about attending acting camp as a teen: "I'd brought a bag of quaaludes, a bag of E, and four large Poland Spring water bottles with vodka." (One of her cabin mates was Bijou Phillips, daughter of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas.) Like her old man, Mia is a survivor, and managed to get clean and carve out a career as a plus-size model and actress.

Holding out for a hero

Speaking of Aerosmith, Steven Tyler and Joey Kramer will decide who the real Guitar Hero is when four finalists from across the nation go shred-to-shred at a competition and fund-raiser for Boston for Africa 2008 next Monday at the Hard Rock Café. The winner of the "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" video game contest will roll off on a custom-made Red Wing motorcycle. The Aerosmith boys will also rock the house with a private show after the contest. The gala benefits Foundation Rwanda and Opportunity International, which raise awareness about poverty and war in Africa. A day earlier, Tyler will lead a 15-mile, 1,500-motorcycle charity ride into Boston, culminating in a Hard Rock party Sunday night featuring Ernie Boch Jr. and his Automatics, guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan.

She sings for her summer

It's been a busy summer for Katie Mayhew, the Martha's Vineyard Regional High Schooler who won the Boston Pops's inaugural student sing-off contest. First, she got to sing on the Esplanade on July Fourth, and over the weekend she shared the stage with the likes of the Neville Brothers, Steel Pulse, Kate Taylor, and Willy Mason at the Martha's Vineyard Festival.

Love Boat redux

The swanky Carnegie Abbey Club near Newport became the "Love Boat" for the annual Save the Bay charity bash for 400 Saturday night. Captain Stubing and Julie McCoy impersonators greeted guests, including owner Brian O'Neill, Kathy and Ryan Quinn (widow and son of the late Anthony Quinn), interior designer Ally Coulter, jeweler Dan MacDonald, and Newport International Film Festival cofounder Nancy Donahoe. The four-deck party (mimicking the luxury cruise line) boasted four bands, a tattoo parlor, caricaturists, and a booth where partyers got their flip-flops blinged out. (Yes, their names, in jeweled letters.)

Standing up for his city

Never mind New York. If you can make it in Boston, you can make it anywhere. So says comedian Dane Cook in the new issue of Boston Common magazine. Cook, who grew up in Arlington, says there are so many famous funny folks from Boston because the audience is discerning here. "If you fake it, if you mail it in, if you're even 3 percent shoulder-slumped, we smell it, and we're going to call you on it," says Cook. "Boston crowds, God, they make you feel loved!"

Hungry to help out

We're so relieved. Ben Affleck will not be sitting alone at a table for four in LA, lonely and hopeful that someone from his hometown would pony up for his generous donation to the annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. Bidding luckily heated up on eBay before Affleck's dinner expired on Sunday, and John Fitzpatrick of Andover won the feast - along with airline tickets and hotel accommodations - for a mere $13,451.

Hot times for Timmons

Fresh from searching for the world's hottest girl in Plymouth last weekend, 98 Degrees' Jeff Timmons joined Jeff Kalligheri of Dolce Vita Productions, singer Louie Bello, and producer Malik Williams for some Saugus wings and crispy chicken at Kowloon.

An early look at 'The People Speak'

Howard Zinn will give supporters of Social Justice Works! a sneak peek at "The People Speak," a film of readings and performances based on his classic history text, Sept. 19 at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge. The charity bash, honorary-chaired by Matt Damon (who is not expected to be there, sadly), will raise money for the organization's Aaronson Fund, which is awarding its first two $5,000 grants to social justice projects this year. (Recipients are still secret, said executive committee cochairman Ray Shurtleff.) Retired Cambridge teacher Larry Aaronson taught Damon and Ben Affleck history at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Matt's mom, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, is an Aaronson friend and Shurtleff's cochair on the executive committee. And Zinn was a Damon family neighbor in Newton. In Boston, it's all six degrees to Affleck-Damon.

Letting their work speak for them

When Harvard Graduate School of Design students Jonathan Evans, Brett Albert, and Andrew Lantz sat down with staff at the Beverly School for the Deaf earlier this summer, they immediately knew their new project - designing a 55,000-square-foot building of classrooms for deaf and disabled students - would introduce them to a new world. "It was really about raising your hand and speaking clearly for the person who was signing for us," said Evans, 25. "The idea of visual clarity became paramount." Lantz, also 25, said the group tried to put themselves in the place of deaf students; they interviewed teachers and read autobiographies by deaf writers to understand how architecture could best serve them. "We wanted to capture it from a firsthand perspective," Lantz said. In their work, funded by Harvard fellowships, they also discussed how to integrate the community into the somewhat isolated school, he added. The students' plans - along with a website and visual catalog of sketches and diagrams that can serve as a resource for other designers creating spaces for the deaf - will be used by the nonprofit school as it raises money and creates the new building, Lantz said.

Panettiere's dad arrested

The father of "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere was arrested early yesterday on suspicion of hitting his wife. Alan Panettiere was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in West Hollywood. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Panettiere was being held on $50,000 bail. Whitmore declined to name the woman whom Panettiere is accused of hitting, but said she reported to deputies that he struck the woman three times with an open hand. (AP)

Honoring the fight against cancer

Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello was among the honorees at a Newport fund-raiser for cancer research over the weekend. Joining the UMass professor were Malcolm Moore, an inventor of Amgen's Neupogen, NBC science correspondent Bob Bazell (far left), and members of Gilda's Club, founded in memory of Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer. The reception hosted by Hope Funds for Cancer Research was at Marble House.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.

Correction: Because of a reporting error, an item in Tuesday's Names column contained inaccurate information about Steven Tyler's Aug. 24 charity motorcycle ride for Boston for Africa 2008. The ride will conclude at the Bank of America Pavilion, and afterward several musical artists will perform there, including guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, who has played with the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan.