Like the rest of the world, I discovered Patrick Swayze as the pulsating virile, blue-collar heartthrob in “Dirty Dancing.” Like the rest of the world, I was utterly gaga.

I demanded (okay, begged) to photograph him at Rancho Bizarro, his home in the San Fernando Valley. What a great session. Again, I begged—I begged him to ride his horse bareback and bare. (Yeah, in my dreams!) That outrageous request did convince him to take his shirt off for some hunky but poetic images.