Lisa Lyne Flynn, of Wyndmoor, a full-time nurse, rock musician and small-business owner, has managed to squeeze yet another chapter into an already crowded life story.

Flynn, a vegan for more than 30 years, has written a children’s book intended to help empower children who are bullied for their food choices.

You Don't Eat Meat?” is the story of Molly who is at first teased, but then stands up for her beliefs and has a transformative effect on her classmates. The book, with delightful illustrations by Ben Fidler, has roots in Flynn’s childhood.

 “I always loved animals, and as I got older, I started to make the connections between loving animals and not eating them,” said Flynn, who works at Fox Chase Cancer Center and also co-owns Kadillac Tattoo Shop in Mt. Airy. “My mom was very upset with me because I could not eat the hot dogs, brisket and other meat dishes she made. I could not understand how people can love dogs and cats and eat other animals that are just as lovable and sweet as dogs and cats.” 

Flynn grew up in Oxford Circle and attended Northeast High School. She has been a mostly self-taught musician since the age of 4. For many years, she was a booking agent who signed musical acts like Bob Dylan to perform at the former Trocadero at 10th and Arch Streets in Chinatown and the former North Star Bar in Fairmount. But Flynn has also been with the band as a musician. An old bandmate called her Lisa Christ Superstar, and that eventually became the name of her band, which features Flynn on guitar and lead vocals. Her husband of 20 years, Eric, co-owner of Kadillac Tattoo, is also a drummer in the band.

Flynn remembers a time when being a vegan or a vegetarian was viewed as an unusual food lifestyle. When she was in her 20s, there was one natural foods store in Northeast Philadelphia and one on South Street, she said. But times have changed. Now, even supermarkets have vegan foods. 

“Paul McCartney said that if slaughterhouses had glass walls, nobody would eat meat,” Flynn said. “More kids today are being raised cruelty-free. Going vegan is one of the two best things I ever did. The other was adopting dogs.”

Flynn and her husband, who is well known in the tattoo world, have three dogs and one cat, and they put out oats, apples and bird food for deer. The couple has owned the Kadillac Tattoo Deuce shop on Rising Sun Avenue in the Northeast for 30 years and the Kadillac Tattoo shop in Mt. Airy for nine years. “It has been wonderful in Mt. Airy,” said Flynn, who has tattoos on her left wrist that are Hebrew words for “Faith” and “Eric.” Tattoos on her right wrist represent the paws of Heshy (Harry), a poodle, and Sosi (Sammy), a mutt. 

Flynn graduated in 2005 from the Community College of Philadelphia with a nursing degree, then went back and got a BSN at Immaculata College in 2013. She worked at Jeanes Hospital in the Northeast for 10 years and has been at Fox Chase Cancer Center for nine years in the Surgical Step Down Unit, where cancers of the head, neck, esophagus, lung and breast are treated. 

“I wanted a job with a regular paycheck, unlike music,” Flynn said. “It has been so rewarding and so horrible at the same time. It is happy when patients come back and do well and depressing when they do not. 

“Our patients are so lovely, so grateful. I love our patients. In a very rare case when someone is not so nice, you have to let it roll off you. We try not to internalize it,” Flynn continued. “And there is no bond stronger than a group of people trying to save lives together … My consolation is with my animals...I know I will be on that rainbow bridge with them one day.”

Before “You Don't Eat Meat?” Flynn wrote a novel, “Death Cheaters,” 10 years in the making, that was published in July of last year. Flynn calls the book, which is available on Amazon (as is “You Don't Eat Meat?”), “a rock 'n' roll fantasy.” 

For more information, visit lisalyneflynn.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com