Clayton R. Graham aka Larry Paul Ebmeier (June 15, 1950 - October 6, 2011)

Clayton R. Graham is the nom de plume of Larry Paul Edmeier, the author of three novels in the '80 that can be tagged as first examples of Gay Romances.

Larry P. Ebmeier wrote a number of classical motifs in his gay novels: from the famous question How do I tell my parents? to romantic love scene and the AIDS problem. That his las novel Tweeds (originally released as early as 1987, under his pseudonym Clayton R. Graham) today is not already outdated, like some of the so-called AIDS novels of that period, is partly due to his very soulful way in which he describes the coexistence of these two men. On the other hand, the disease is so sure that Scott's story is the main subject of the novel, but his secret double life, and the consequent conflicts cause not a yawn in the readers. The HIV disease increasead the number of late-coming-out, and it is reflected in this story, bringing us to the really remarkable point in this novel: a portrait of a man who gives away his life rather than to have the courage of self-consciousness gay man have. Ebmeier is simply compassionate with his character, Corey. In the truest sense of the word. A beautiful novel. The American critics praised Tweeds as one of the best novels of the AIDS years, as "appealing mix of romantic comedy and AIDS tragedy."

Larry Paul Ebmeier, 61, of Alpine, Tx. died Thursday, October 6, 2011, in Lubbock, Tx. from injuries received in a bicycle-auto accident. Larry was born June 15, 1950, in Lexington, Ne., to Roger and Shirley (Clayton) Ebmeier. He is survived by his partner, Donald Callen Freed.

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Source: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=78217202

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Literary Heritage: Lord Alfred Tennyson (August 6, 1809 – October 6, 1892)

Surely few literary figures so directly challenge reductive notions of sexual identity as does the Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. In Memoriam is both Tennyson's greatest work and the most beautiful homoerotic elegy in the English language, yet there is little doubt that Tennyson himself was sexually attracted to women.

Androgynous male characters and homoeroticism abound throughout Tennyson's poetry, particularly from his early years, but he is often considered one of the stuffiest and most prudish of his generation of writers.

So, one might ask, what does one do with Tennyson? Rather than dismissing him as an anomaly, it seems much more productive to allow Tennyson to disrupt our overly easy classifications of writers and to recognize through his work that transgression is much more common than rigid adherence to narrow, though convenient, literary and sexual categories.

Tennyson's life and career spans the nineteenth century, capturing the Victorian age in many of its complexities. Born on August 6, 1809, in Somersby, England, to an Anglican minister, George Clayton Tennyson, and his wife, Elizabeth Fytche Tennyson, Alfred demonstrated his considerable poetic talents at a very early age, composing his first lines of verse at age five and his first poem at age eight. He and his brothers Frederick and Charles produced a full book of poetry in 1827, when Alfred was barely eighteen.

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Citation Information
Author: Hall, Donald E.
Entry Title: Tennyson, Alfred Lord
General Editor: Claude J. Summers
Publication Name: glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture
Publication Date: 2002
Date Last Updated October 10, 2005
Web Address www.glbtq.com/literature/tennyson_al.html
Publisher glbtq, Inc.
1130 West Adams
Chicago, IL 60607
Today's Date October 6, 2012
Encyclopedia Copyright: © 2002-2006, glbtq, Inc.
Entry Copyright © 1995, 2002 New England Publishing Associates

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Oscar Browning (January 17, 1837 - October 6, 1923)

Oscar Browning (17 January 1837 – 6 October 1923) was an English writer, historian, and educational reformer. His greatest achievement was the cofounding, along with Henry Sidgwick, of the Cambridge University Day Training College in 1891. This was one of the earliest institutions in Great Britain to focus on the training of educators, preempted only by the founding of the Cambridge Teaching College for Women by Elizabeth Hughes in 1885. (Picture: "OB" as caricatured in Vanity Fair, November 1888)

Browning was born in London, the son of a merchant, William Shipton Browning, and educated at Eton College, where he was a pupil of William Johnson Cory and at King's College, Cambridge, where he became fellow and tutor, graduating fourth in the classical tripos of 1860, and where he was inducted into the exclusive Cambridge Apostles, a debating society for the Cambridge elite.

For fifteen years he was a Master at Eton College, until he was dismissed in the autumn of 1875. His parents' church, St. Andrew's, in Clewer, describes the reasons for his dismissal as "his injudicious talk, his favourites, and his anarchic spirit."

After Eton he returned to King's College, Cambridge, where he took up a life Fellowship and where he achieved a reputation as a wit, and became universally known as "O.B.". He traveled to India at George Curzon's invitation after the latter had become viceroy. He resumed residence in 1876 at Cambridge, where he became university lecturer in history. He soon became a prominent figure in college and university life, encouraging especially the study of political science and modern political history, the extension of university teaching and the movement for the training of teachers.

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Browning

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Richard Charles Bollig (1943 - October 6, 1994)

Richard Charles Bollig was a musician and choral singer. He was an dance accompanist for Alvin Ailey and a singer with the New York Philharmonic. He died on October 6, 1994, at his home in Manhattan. He was 51.

The cause was AIDS, said Susan Paul, a friend.

Mr. Bollig was born in Sleepy Eye, Minn., and graduated from the University of Minnesota. In New York City, he accompanied the ballet classes of such notable teachers as Margaret Craske and Finus Jhung. He also played at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center.

Mr. Bollig was also a voice teacher, and he sang with the New York Philharmonic and the David Jones Opera Ensemble of New York.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/02/obituaries/richard-charles-bollig-musician-51.html

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GayRomLit Ebook Giveaway: L.C. Chase - Riding with Heaven

I asked to all the authors joining the GayRomLit convention in Albuquerque in October (http://gayromlit.com/authors.php) a personal favor, a special Ebook Giveaway: every day I will post 1 book from each author, and among those who will leave a comment, I will draw a winner. Very easy and very fast ;-) I will send a PM to the winner, so remember to not leave anonymous comments! (comments close on October 8)

and the ebook giveaway goes to: emlynley, please contact me.

Today author is L.C. Chase (http://www.lcchase.com/)

Riding with Heaven by L. C. Chase
Publisher: Loose Id LLC (June 5, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: Riding with Heaven

When his flight home for his brother’s birthday is canceled due to a Category 5 hurricane on the Eastern seaboard, art major Evan McGrath places an ad on Craigslist for a rideshare from Colorado to South Carolina. He hadn’t expected an immediate reply, nor had he expected to fall head-over-heels for the handsome and mysterious driver, Lucas Briscoe.

As the miles disappear behind them Evan grows more and more attracted to the enigmatic Lucas, and the desire is mutual. The only problem is that a serial killer dubbed “The Domino Slasher” has just escaped a federal prison transfer, and funny little coincidences keep pointing toward Lucas -- who looks like Heaven incarnate, but who could be the Devil in disguise.

Accidental Love by Shae Connor

A sweet and sexy story about young love: Greg and Keith are college roommates; they don’t know each other very well, they don’t even know to being both gay. What Greg knows is that Keith behaves like a good boy during the week, to then enjoy his weekends in a midst of sex and alcohol. Greg is not a saint, but he is in self-imposed rehabilitation: after a late teens and beginning of college in which Greg drunk too much and rebelled to his family, he took the decision to change city and degree, and behave. Keith is a living temptation he cannot afford.

I like how the author maintained the mood of the story light and sweet; both Greg and Keith had some trouble in their teen years, but nothing tragic and nothing that could really prevent them to be happy now. Plus both of them are ordinary guys, good looking but no fake-model type; they are young, they made some mistakes in their past, and they are now building the basis for a good future. Exactly like many other thousands of guys of the same age.

Another point I liked is that these guys are romantic at heart, they want love and roses, boyfriend and kisses; sure the sex is good, but that is not what they will bring back, and along, into their life. I can imagine these two in 40 years still being together, and happy.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AccidentalLove.html

Amazon Kindle: Accidental Love
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (February 5, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle