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Robert Coleman Dowell (1925–1985) was an American writer. He was born to Mordon and Beulah Dowell in Adairville, Kentucky on May 29, 1925. Dowell attended several country schools, among them, a one room school where Latin and Greek were taught. His last two years of high school were at Simpson County High in Franklin, Kentucky, a new county school where he was on the school paper. Dowell served in the U.S. Army, Medical Corps from 1944–45 and as an assistant to the prosecution in war crimes trials in Manila in 1945-46. He was eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant. During this period he also attended the University of the Philippines. Dowell returned home to the U.S. in 1946 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky for a few years where he was a full-time member of the National Guard. Here, he wrote the musical play that brought him to New York City
Dowell moved to New York in 1950, initially finding work as a model for automobile and airline ads and as a typist. From 1950-53 Dowell was employed as a song writer and lyricist for the Dumont television show, Once Upon a Tune, which starred Bea Arthur, Elaine Stritch, Alice Ghostley, and Charlotte Rae. Dowell composed nearly 1,000 works for weekly broadcast. He also worked as David Merrick's protege and with John LaTouche on the abortive Broadway musical version of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness!. (Picture: Carl Van Cechten, 1934, Self-portrait)1957 was a pivotal year for Dowell. It was in January of this year that he managed to meet Carl Van Vechten, author of The Tattooed Countess. Dowell wanted permission to attempt to adapt the piece to the musical stage. He played for Van Vechten selections from a score for The Tattooed Countess and won Van Vechten's approval for the rights. Carl Van Vechten was known to his friends as "Carlo." His career included stints as a music critic for The New York Times, as a novelist during the 1920s, and as a photographer for which he never sought nor received payment. He photographed many of the major figures in the arts world. His wife was Fania Marinoff, a retired actress. Van Vechten introduced Dowell into his circle of friends which included many celebrities: Isak Dinesen, Langston Hughes, Leontyne Price, Geoffrey Holder, Gloria Vanderbilt, Sidney Lumet, Eileen Herlie, Kim Hunter, Barbra Streisand, Dianne Carroll, Pearl Bailey, Anthony Armstrong Jones, Tallulah Bankhead, Luise Rainer, Laurence Olivier, Gertrude Stein, the Gish sisters, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, George Kaufman, Noel Coward, and Maurice Sendak, among others.
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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleman_Dowell
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Jim Stork (born November 3, 1966) is an American businessman and politician from Florida. Stork became romantic partners with Ronald Ansin, a well-known Bostonian philanthropist, Democratic fundraiser, and brother of billionaire Edmund Ansin in 2002. The couple is very well known nationwide for their support of various social and political causes.
Stork then moved to Wilton Manors, Florida; where he opened Stork's Cafe and Bakery. The restaurant became popular after its opening in 1997, and Stork became a popular figure in the city's large gay community. He was elected mayor of Wilton Manors in 2002, succeeding John Fiore. Wilton Manors thus became the first city in the United States to elect two consecutive openly gay mayors.
Although sexuality does not appear in any of the works of leftist political figure Manuel Azaña, he was committed to liberal freedom and revolutionary reforms.
JAMES MAGRUDER was born in Washington, D.C., and moved with his family five times before settling down in Chicagoland. He went off to Cornell University, spent his junior year in Paris, served time as a grad student in the Yale French department, then defected to the Yale School of Drama, where he received his doctorate. His dissertation, THREE FRENCH COMEDIES (Yale University Press), was named an "Outstanding Literary Translation of the Year" by the American Literary Translators Association. Today, his versions of Molière, Marivaux, Lesage, Labiche, Gozzi, Hofmannsthal, and Dickens have been produced across the country and earn him tens of dollars. He also wrote the book for the ill-starred Broadway musical Triumph of Love. The journal he kept during that very special time will become available when several of his collaborators have passed away.
Sugarless: A Novel by James Magruder 
November 2013 marks the 7th anniversary since I opened my first journal (and yes, I have an itch, but I will scratch it!), on LJ, and the 5th anniversary of the Rainbow Awards. So, of course I decided for a big bash party. 182 authors, all of them in the 2013 Rainbow Awards, have donated or an ebook, or a print book, and I will use them for a Treasure Hunt. Every day, for all November, I will post 6 excerpts (a random page of the book). No reference to title, or author, or publisher. You have to match it with the book ;-) comment on the blog, 1 comment for each matching (you can even try for all 6 books if you like, so 6 chances to win every day). Until the end I will not say which matching is right, so you will have ALL month to try. No limit on how many books you can win, the more you try the better chance you have to win. End of November, among the right matchings, I will draw the winners. So now? let the game start!