Roger Chouinard spent the past year contacting '80s rock stars, driving miles to meet them — and, sometimes sleeping in his truck -- to collect more than 5,000 photos and countless memories of his uncle, the late Bobby Chouinard, best known as the longtime drummer for Billy Squier.

After working 18 hours a day compiling anecdotes and photos, this month Roger Chouinard published and released  The Story of Bobby Chouinard "Drummer Extraordinaire."

"I did it as a labor of love," said Roger Chouinard, a Wareham native and owner of Depot Street tattoo shop Sinners and Saints. "So many rock bands are putting out books, and the '80s are becoming such a classic time in life. I didn't want [Bobby Chouinard] to be forgotten."

Bobby Chouinard was born in 1953 in Brockton, first started gigging in his early teens, and played shows with local bands before spending years drumming for Billy Squier — of "The Stroke" fame. He collaborated with many in the industry, including Alice Cooper. In 1991, he joined Beggars & Thieves. He died in 1997 at the age of 43.

"He lived life hard," Roger Chouinard said of his uncle. "It was the '80s."

Roger Chouinard shares the story of his uncle's short life in stunning photos, both professional and from relatives' and friends' collections, prints of old posters and ticket stubs, and through the unedited stories of the people who knew, performed with, and loved Bobby Chouinard.

Billy Squier wrote the book's foreword, and readers hear from Alice Cooper, Steve Smith of Journey, Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, and local musician Stet Howland, to name a few.

Graphic design was done locally by Monica Rhines, whose studio is located at 197 Onset Ave. in Onset.

Writing the book made Roger Chouinard realize "how many people [Bobby Chouinard] influenced in the music industry, and what level he brought to the bands and projects he was a part of," he said. "I knew him on a different level… not as a musician."

Nearly everyone who shares a memory in the book references Bobby Chouinard's infectious smile and laugh, his kindness, and his upbeat personality.

Roger Chouinard discovered "how seriously [Bobby Chouinard] took his music," he explained, "but also how he knew how to shut the door when it was time to have fun. Not a lot of people know how to do that."

The book is available for $30 at amazon.com, ebay.com, and at Newbury Comics.

Release parties will be held at the Bitter End in New York City on December 5, and locally at the Sandwich Taverna on December 8. Tickets for the party in Sandwich cost $20 and are available at Sinners and Saints on Depot Street or at the restaurant. Brian Howe of Bad Company will be in attendance, as well as members of Billy Squier. Whiskey Throttle, in which Roger Chouinard drums, will perform.

"The book has a central meeting point: how good [Bobby Chouinard] was as a person and as a drummer," Roger Chouinard noted, adding: "Billy Squier liked it so much, he wants me to do his!"