Queers in History: Laird Cregar (July 28, 1913 – December 9, 1944)

Laird Cregar died at age thirty-one, after a film career that lasted only five years, but his wicked and sinister presence made him famous in such films as Blood and Sand, Wake Up Screaming, The Black Swan, and Hangover Square. He played the Devil in Heaven Can Wait and Jack the Ripper in The Lodger.

Historian Gregory Mank called Cregar “an anguished homosexual.” William Mann, in Behind the Screen, wrote that gay rights activist Harry HAY knew Cregar in the 1930s, when the rotund actor was living with a boyfriend, “There was no attempt to hide it. He wasn’t troubled by being gay.”

What did trouble Cregar was his weight, which kept him from obtaining the leading roles he craved. His premature death was the result of a heart attack brought on by a crash diet.

Stern, Keith (2009-09-01). Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals (Kindle Locations 3897-3904). Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

( Further Readings )

Gay Romance Challenge: December 2012

Here is the Bestsellers List on Amazon I'm referring to for the challenge:

Bestsellers in Gay Romance

And here is the actual situation (in bold the books I read with link to the review and marked as New the books entering the Challenge this month):

1) The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1623801389/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
2) Turkey in the Snow by Amy Lane
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGGKQ16/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
3) My Hot Bedtime Stories: Volume 1 by Laura Cooper
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MYH0JE/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review: Not Gay Romance
4) Lessons for Lewis (Larson Brothers) by Amber Kell
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AD9OGLC/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
5) Wolfsbane (Dark Hollow Wolf Pack 5) by Shannon West
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADQGHKI/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
6) Inseparable by Chris Scully
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGFRFYI/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
7) Poppy's Pleasure (Assassin's Pride) by Stormy Glenn
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AD9WJ3O/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
8) An Isolated Range (Stories from the Range) by Andrew Grey
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AH8SO7Q/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
9) Just Ask by Mia Downing
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A7LJNS2/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:
10) Bianca's Plan by B.G. Thomas
Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGFRFTI/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Review:

( books from 11 to 100 )

One True Thing by Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

Dusty was my favorite character in the previous book, One Small Thing, so I was more than eager to read his story. It was like saying welcome back to a friend.

Dusty’s story is maybe less “exploit” than the one of Rue (for a totally gay boy ending up with a baby girl to raise alone can be a dream comes true but also a total shock), but it’s not less romantic and sweet. That is something that passed along from book 1 to book 2, the sweetness: Rue and Dusty are two sweet and cute gay boys, hair stylists and everything that implies, and they meet the perfect partners, completely different from each other, but all the same perfect.

Dusty’s one is Asher, a wanna-be artistic photographer who makes ends meet doing pornographic photo shoot. He doesn’t like to do that, and most of the time he ends doing almost a therapy session to the young and naïve porn stars more than a photo service, but all in all he is not bad. In his personal life, Asher is more the long-term relationship type, the one who brings his boyfriend home to meet the parents; exactly the opposite of his twin brother Archer, who is a manwhore.

There is a little play of mistaken identity, with Dusty going out with bad brother Archer believing he is the good one Asher, but in the end, the authors were not really interested in bringing along this plot and moved to the real deal, Dusty and Asher planning a future together, complete of little house with white picket fences and why not, 2.5 children (in the future and if they find a way to make one, being totally, completely gay).

Actually I wondered if the authors had in mind to put some obstacles in their way, and they did try, but I think even them didn’t really want to upset the happy couple, and every time they tried, the “trouble” lasted only few pages; nothing really huge is in the way of Dusty and Asher being together, the only little drama they managed to have is something outside their relationship, something they need to face together but that it will not loosened their bond.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3309

Amazon: One True Thing
Amazon Kindle: One True Thing
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 26, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1623800463
ISBN-13: 978-1623800468

Series:
1) One Small Thing: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1651655.html
2) One True Thing

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