Cary Scott Lowenstein (May 24, 1962 - November 29, 1992)

Cary Scott Lowenstein was a dancer, singer, and actor who played Mike on Broadway and in the national tour of A Chorus Line. He died on November 29, 1992, at Hospice-by-the-Sea in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 30 years old and lived in Los Angeles.

He died of AIDS, said his parents, Daniel and Toby Lowenstein.

Mr. Lowenstein played Mike, the character who sang "I Can Do That," in the national company of "A Chorus Line" in 1980 and made his Broadway debut in the same role a year later. His other Broadway credits include "Song and Dance" and "The Tap Dance Kid."

He was in the national tour of "Sophisticated Ladies," where he met Lynn Gendron, a dancer, choreographer and actress, whom he later married. The couple toured the United States and Europe with Peter Maxwell's Ballroom Dance Theater and appeared in the singer Ute Lemper's live stage show and television special in Germany, France and Sweden. Ms. Gendron Lowenstein died of a brain tumor in 1991.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/02/obituaries/cary-scott-lowenstein-singer-and-dancer-30.html

( Further Readings )

John Knowles (September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001)

John Knowles (September 16, 1926 – November 29, 2001) was an American novelist best known for his novel A Separate Peace. He died in 2001 at the age of seventy-five.

Knowles was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, the son of James M. Knowles, a purchasing agent from Lowell, Massachusetts, and Mary Beatrice Shea Knowles from Concord, New Hampshire. In his home town, Knowles’ father was the vice president of a coal company and they received a steady income affording them a decent standard of living. He attended St. Peter's High School in Fairmont, West Virginia from 1940 until 1942, before continuing at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, graduating in 1945. He married Beth Anne Dyment Hughes at the age of 19. Knowles graduated from Yale University as a member of the class of 1949. While at Yale, Knowles served on the Board of Yale Daily News during his sophomore, junior and senior years, specifically as Editorial Secretary during his senior year. He was a record-holding varsity swimmer during his sophomore year. A Separate Peace is based upon Knowles's experiences at Phillips Exeter Academy. The setting for The Devon Woolbert School is a thinly veiled fictionalization of Phillips Exeter Academy. The plot should not be taken as autobiographical, although many elements of the novel stem from personal experience, including Knowles' membership in a secret society and sustaining of a foot injury while jumping from a tree during society exercises. In his essay, "A Special Time, A Special Place," Knowles wrote:

The only elements in A Separate Peace which were not in that summer were anger, violence, and hatred. There was only friendship, character, athleticism, and honor.

The secondary character Finny (Phineas) was the best friend of the main character, Gene. Knowles has stated that he modeled Finny on David Hackett from Milton Academy, whom he met when both attended a summer session at Phillips Exeter Academy. Hackett was a friend of Robert Kennedy's, under whom he later served in the Justice Department. A Phineas Sprague lived in the same dormitory as Knowles during the summer session of 1943 and may have been an inspiration for the character's name.

( Read more... )

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

While not blatantly a gay novel, any young gay man who read A Separate Peace by John Knowles in school knows its power. Knowles was a gay man and infused his writing with the pathos and desire that only gay people can know. This was the first gay romantic relationship I had ever read about, and the fact that teachers don´t comment on the underlying love affair when teaching is a true careless disservice to the book and gay youth. --Eric Arvin

But back in the day, everyone else might have been reading “A Separate Peace” in school, and discovering that they had questions about relationships that seemed to blur the lines between friendship and something more between two men or two women. --Z.A. Maxfield

( Further Readings )

Rainbow Awards pre-party and 7th anniversary (Day 29)

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. 190 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, 166 have not yet been matched, so if you go back there is good chance to win them! if at the end of the treasure hunt they will be still unmatched they will go to the one who matched more books.

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

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

Previous Post: reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/3943245.html

Today excerpts are:

( Today excerpts are )

The Male Form, 3 month updates (Sep-Oct-Nov) (NWS)

I was lazy ;-) while Dylan, always with great kindness and generosity, sent me the monthly updates to TheMaleForm website, I didn't post it :-( yes, yes, I know, I was bad, also because it's a joy for the eyes to admire these fine specimen, but well, the good news? you have many of them to admire now!

Be careful, this is a NOT WORK SAFE post!


Michael by Dylan Rosser

( Michael by Dylan Rosser )

Ricardo by Gregory Adams

( Ricardo by Gregory Adams )

( Dave by Dylan Rosser )

( Dylan by Ethan James )

( Francois by Murray )

( Jaime by Calvin Brockington )

( Jonny by Dylan Rosser )

( Luke by Ian Fraser )

( Martin by Tom Jason )

( Omar by Tom Jason )