Jim Kepner (September 19, 1923 - November 15, 1997)

James Lynn 'Jim' Kepner, Jr. (1923–1997) was a journalist, author, historian, archivist and leader in the gay rights movement. His work was intertwined with One, Inc. and One Magazine, and eventually contributed to the formation of the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.

In a review of Kepner’s 1998 book, Rough News, Daring Views: 1950s' Pioneer Gay Press Journalism, historian William Armstrong Percy III wrote, "the Gay rights movement had three remarkable pioneers. Two—Harry Hay and Dorr Legg—have long been recognized, whereas the contribution of the third—Jim Kepner—has never been adequately documented…" Percy goes on to say “Kepner’s articles (in the book) record not only the past of the gay rights movement but also its soul.”

In September 1923, Kepner was found wrapped in newspaper under an oleander bush in Galveston, Texas, though he didn't find out he was adopted until he was nineteen. That year, 1942, he followed his adoted father to San Francisco, where, wandering around the libraries of the city, Kepner could not find anything objective that focused on the way he was. Later, he would record that he had been "aware of being different from age four." Kepner recognized he was gay and long before most, he didn’t mind. His search for information and then community and culture led him to begin a private collection of gay-related materials unlike anything previously compiled. Upon settling in Los Angeles in the early 1950s, Kepner became an essential part of the emergence of modern gay culture through journalism, writing, activism and pioneering archival work. He became one of the main writers for ONE Magazine. Before falling out with ONE in 1961, Kepner wrote many of the magazines’ articles and served as co-editor of the magazine. ONE Magazine’s documents and Kepner’s research materials formed the beginning of today’s ONE Archives.

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

( Jim Kepner, 1992, by Robert Giard )

( Further Readings )

More Particular Voices at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Particular Voices

Rob McCall (September 14, 1958 – November 15, 1991)

Robert "Rob" McCall, CM (September 14, 1958 – November 15, 1991) was a Canadian ice dancer. With partner Tracy Wilson, he was the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist.

McCall was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He moved to Toronto when he teamed up with Tracy Wilson.

McCall competed with Marie McNeil early in his career. They were the 1975 Canadian novice silver medalists, 1977 Canadian junior national champions, 1978 & 1979 Canadian senior bronze medalists, 1980 silver medalists, and the 1981 national champions. They placed 13th at the 1980 World Figure Skating Championships and the 1981 World Figure Skating Championships.

Following that season, McCall teamed up with Tracy Wilson and skated with her until his death. They were the 1982-1988 Canadian national champions and three-time World bronze medalists. They placed 8th at the 1984 Winter Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

They turned professional in 1988 and skated professionally together. They toured with Stars On Ice, and won the World Professional Figure Skating Championships in 1989.

In 1988, Wilson and McCall were made a Member of the Order of Canada.

In March 1990, McCall became critically ill with pneumonia in Portland, Maine while touring in a show with Brian Boitano and Katarina Witt, and was diagnosed with AIDS. He initially kept the nature of his illness a secret because he hoped to be able to continue to skate professionally in the United States, which at that time had restrictive immigration and customs laws barring persons with AIDS. However, his health deteriorated and he died of AIDS-related brain cancer on November 15, 1991 at age 33.


Karl-Heinz Schindler/German Federal Archives. Robert McCall and Tracy Wilson in Berlin, 1985


AIDS Quilt

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Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McCall_(figure_skater)

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Scott Henshall (born November 15, 1975)

Scott Henshall (born 15 November 1975 in Hartlepool) is a British fashion designer.

Henshall owned shops around Hartlepool, before moving to London to become a fashion designer. He is notable for designing a £5 million diamond-encrusted dress worn by Samantha Mumba at the 2004 premiere of Spider-Man 2.

In 2006, Henshall appeared in the reality TV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He was voted out of the programme by viewers on 24 November 2006, the second to leave.

Some of Scott's attempts at the bushtucker trials were not successful. On one trial he was required to dance continually for five songs to earn ten stars, but surrendered after earning only one star. In an underwater trial called What Lurks Beneath, he again surrendered after only collecting one star.

At his post-eviction interview which was televised on 25 November 2006, Scott continued his on-going spat with Footballers' Wives star Phina Oruche. He accused her of being the "least famous person on the show" and also said "she wanted to play the diva part. It's just a shame she didn't have the body or the face to live up to it" before pausing and adding "or the intelligence."

His charity work has included working with climate change charity Global Cool.



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

More Fashion Designers at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

Rainbow Awards pre-party and 7th anniversary (Day 15)

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. 188 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 (do not leave anonymous comments, if you post as anonymous, leave a contact email (comments are screened)), you can comment 1 time for more matchings (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!

Be aware that these previous excerpts: 11, 23, 25 have not yet been matched, so if you go back there is good chance to win them!

The books are (Author - Title - Format of prize):

( The books are (Author - Title - Format of prize) )

Previous Post: http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/3926222.html

Today excerpts are:

( Today excerpts )