Patti Smith has opened up the loss of Sam Shepard in a new interview.Smith opened up about the loss of her life-long friend, who died in 2017 at the age of 73, in a new interview with The Observer.Asked about Shepard, Smith said: “I see Sam looking at me with a wry smile – he knew me so well – I miss him terribly.“Sam was very protective, though he understood I’m pretty tough and can handle myself. We went through a romantic interlude but didn’t need that, we connected in so many ways.