Don Amador & Tony Karnes

Don Amador (October 23, 1942 - August 13, 1992) served in the U.S. Navy. He was aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, and later he was a candidate for the California State Assembly in 1977, and for the Los Angeles City Council in 1980. Los Angeles Community College professor and gay activist, Amador developed one of the nation's first accredited college courses in gay studies.

His papers are held at ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives. Clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, publicity, academic papers, political flyers, newssheets, photographs, organizational lists, notes, and college course materials, 1976-1983, documenting the educational and political activities of Don Amador.

On the first day of class Don Amador always gave his California State University students a quiz. The subject of his course was homosexuality, and he expected few correct answers. (Sample true-false question: North American Plains Indians appointed homosexuals high priests or medicine men until around 1920. True.)

"Nobody knows much about gay history or sociology, and gays don't know any more than straights," Amador said. "This is the only minority group in the world that doesn't know anything about its roots."

Amador had been trying to change that since 1976, when Cal State asked him to start what was one of the few gay studies courses for credit at an American college.


Don Amador, his husband Tony Karnes and Harvey Milk
Don Amador served in the U.S. Navy. He was aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, and later he was a candidate for the California State Assembly in 1977 and for the Los Angeles City Council in 1980. Amador developed one of the first accredited college courses in gay studies. He was featured in People magazine on more than one occasion for his work in creating a Gay History and Education, and for his 10+ year relationship with Tony Karnes. Amador passed away in 1992 from an AIDS related illness.


AIDS Quilt

( Read more... )

Source: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20069747,00.html

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

James Holmes & Ned Rorem

James Holmes, an organist and choir director long associated with the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy on West 84th Street in Manhattan, and a sometime composer of considerable skill, died on January 7, 1999, at his home in Manhattan. He was 59. He was Ned Rorem's companion of more than 30 years.

In Rorem’s diaries, James Holmes was known as JH, and on many occasions Rorem mentioned how great his dependency on JH was. At the time when Rorem and Holmes were celebrating their 30th year anniversary, Holmes was battling cancer. Eventually, Holmes was diagnosed HIV positive, and after a great struggle with Rorem by his side, Holmes died of AIDS in 1999. Rorem described the struggle that he and JH faced in his publication, Lies. This haunting work shows the despair and brutality of watching a lover die. As Edmund White says in a roundtable for the New York Times,

The most terrible thing about AIDS is that it destroys the relationship, no matter how loving, between the two partners and eats away at the character of the person who’s dying. Nobody has AIDS and is noble. That’s why all these melodramatic, kitschy plays about AIDS are such lies. Ned told the truth. Maybe the diary is the best form for talking about AIDS, because it shows the quotidian pain, the shifts, the struggles, the reconciliations, the hopes, the dashed hopes. Everything is there.

Since the death of JH, Rorem has said that he no longer looks forward to anything. However, while JH’s death was such a tragedy in his life, Rorem has played a larger role in AIDS awareness because of it.


James Holmes, an organist and choir director, was Ned Rorem's companion of more than 30 years. In Rorem’s diaries, James Holmes was known as JH, and on many occasions Rorem mentioned how great his dependency on JH was. Eventually, Holmes was diagnosed HIV positive, and after a great struggle with Rorem by his side, Holmes died of AIDS in 1999. Rorem described the struggle that he and JH faced in his publication, Lies. This haunting work shows the despair and brutality of watching a lover die.

( Read more... )

Source: www.nytimes.com/1999/01/09/arts/james-holmes-59-composer-choir-director-and-organist.html


Ned Rorem by Robert Giard

American photographer Robert Giard is renowned for his portraits of American poets and writers; his particular focus was on gay and lesbian writers. Some of his photographs of the American gay and lesbian literary community appear in his groundbreaking book Particular Voices: Portraits of Gay and Lesbian Writers, published by MIT Press in 1997. Giard’s stated mission was to define the literary history and cultural identity of gays and lesbians for the mainstream of American society, which perceived them as disparate, marginal individuals possessing neither. In all, he photographed more than 600 writers. (http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/giard.html)

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Jere' M. Fishback (born October 23, 1951)

"I’m a Florida native, a former journalist, news editor and trial attorney. I’m a graduate of the College of Journalism at University of Florida, and the Florida State University College of Law.

I live on Florida’s Gulf Coast, on a barrier island west of Tampa, with my partner, Greg.

I began writing fiction during 2003, after I retired. I write novels, novellas and short fiction. I’ve also written a memoir piece titled Hydrangeas. It chronicles a period in my childhood, when I lived with my grandparents. It will appear in Home Grown, a collection of works by native Floridians. The book will be published by University Press at University of Florida, in mid-2012.

What have you published?

My first short story was published in a literary review called Sabal. I attended a writer’s conference at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, and my story, titled Crawford Creek, won the “best of” conference award in the short story category. You can purchase a copy of the 2007 edition of Sabal online from Eckerd College here: Crawford Creek is a sort of ghost story. It takes place at my fishing camp on the Chassahowitzka River, north of Tampa.

I also published a story titled Boy From Red Bluff in SoMa Literary Review, a San Francisco-based, online publication.

( Read more... )

Source: http://www.jeremfishback.com/blog1/about/

Further Readings:

Josef Jaeger by Jere' M. Fishback
Paperback: 396 pages
Publisher: Torquere Press (July 18, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603706852
ISBN-13: 978-1603706858
Amazon: Josef Jaeger
Amazon Kindle: Josef Jaeger

Josef Jaeger turns thirteen when Adolf Hitler is appointed Germany's new Chancellor. When his mother dies, Josef is sent to Munich to live with his uncle, Ernst Roehm, the openly-homosexual chief of the Nazi brown shirts. Josef thinks he's found a father-figure in his uncle and a mentor in his uncle's lover, streetwise Rudy, and when Roehm's political connections land Josef a role in a propaganda movie, Josef's sure he's found the life he's always wanted. But while living in Berlin during the film's production, Josef falls in love with a Jewish boy, David, and Josef begins questioning his uncle's beliefs. Complications arise when an old friend of his mother's tells Josef that his mother was secretly murdered by the SS due to her political beliefs, possibly on Roehm's order. Josef confides in his Hitler Youth leader, Max Klieg. Klieg admits he knows a few things, but he won't share them with Josef till the boy proves himself worthy of a confidence. Conflicting beliefs war within Josef until he must decide where his true loyalties lie, and what he really believes in.

Tyler Buckspan by Jere' M. Fishback
Paperback: 202 pages
Publisher: Prizm (August 14, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1610405188
ISBN-13: 978-1610405188
Amazon: Tyler Buckspan
Amazon Kindle: Tyler Buckspan

Fifteen-year-old Tyler Buckspan lives with his mom and grandmother in 1960s Cassadaga, a Florida community where spiritual "mediums" ply their trade. The mediums--Tyler's grandmother among them--read palms and tarot cards, conduct seances and speak with the dead. Tyler's a loner, a bookish boy with few interests, until his half-brother Devin, nineteen and a convicted arsonist, comes to live in Tyler's home. For years, Tyler has ignored his attraction to other boys. But with Devin in the house, Tyler can't deny his urges any longer. He falls hopelessly in love with his miscreant half-brother, and with the sport of basketball, once Devin teaches Tyler the finer points of the game. In a time when love between men was forbidden, even criminalized, can Tyler find the love he needs from another boy? And is Devin a person to be trusted? Is he truly clairvoyant, or simply a con artist playing Tyler and others for fools? What does Devin really know about a local murder? And can Tyler trust his own psychic twinges?

More Spotlights at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More Rainbow Awards at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards

Augusten Burroughs (born October 23, 1965)

Augusten Xon Burroughs (born October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors (2002). Burroughs divides time between New York City and Amherst, Massachusetts. On April 1, 2013 Augusten married his longtime agent and companion Christopher Schelling at New York City Hall, Staten Island.

Burroughs was born Christopher Richter Robison in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the younger of two sons to poet Margaret Robison and John G. Robison, former head of the philosophy department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the younger brother of fellow memoirist John Elder Robison. He was raised in Massachusetts, including the towns of Shutesbury, Amherst, and Northampton. His parents divorced on July 29, 1978, when Burroughs was twelve years old, and he was adopted by his mother's psychiatrist who resided in the Northampton area.

Burroughs dropped out of school after the sixth grade and obtained a GED at age 17. He chose his name at age 18, and legally changed it in Boston. He later enrolled at Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts, as a pre-med student, dropping out before the end of the first semester. He decided to settle in New York City and worked for a Manhattan-based advertising company. In 1996, he sought treatment for alcoholism at a rehabilitation center in Minnesota before returning to Manhattan.

His books are published by St. Martin's Press and Picador. Some of his childhood experiences were chronicled in Running with Scissors (2002), which was later filmed.


Augusten Xon Burroughs (born October 23, 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American writer known for his New York Times bestselling memoir Running with Scissors (2002). Burroughs divides time between New York City and Amherst, Massachusetts. On April 1, 2013 Augusten married his longtime agent and companion Christopher Schelling at New York City Hall, Staten Island. Running with Scissors was made into a film in 2006. It was directed by Ryan Murphy, produced by Brad Pitt.



( Read more... )

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusten_Burroughs

I did a lot of drinking in order to finish the manuscript of my most recent novel, “The Wolf at the Door”, in part, because the narrator heavily imbibes in order to survive his chaotic job at a guesthouse in New Orleans where he imagines he is seeing ghosts and angels and all sorts of oddities. Augusten Burrough’s memoir “Dry” is all about the author’s zeal to quench his addictive behavior with the bottle. It’s superbly crafted, full of angst and wit, particularly as the author seeks to remain sober and avoid a romance with an overly handsome crack addict. Another book readers might want to explore is Charles Jackson’s 1944 novel “The Lost Weekend”, about a man who cannot let go of his desire to drink. And note: all of the gay material in the novel was excised when it became the Oscar winning film. --Jameson Currier

Burroughs soul searing honesty regarding his alcoholism is what kept me turning page after page of this haunting memoir, Dry. There is no self pity here, no whining, just a blunt appraisal of the mess he was making of his life. Riveting. All his memoirs are exceptional reads, e.g. Running With Scissors, but Dry remains my favorite. --J.P. Bowie

Rather than the more famous “Running With Scissors,” which I have to admit I haven't read, Magical Thinking is a hilarious series of essays in which the very gay Burroughs lets all his neuroses hang out. --Kyell Gold

Further Readings:

Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (June 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031242227X
ISBN-13: 978-0312422271
Amazon: Running with Scissors: A Memoir
Amazon Kindle: Running with Scissors: A Memoir

The #1 New York Times Bestseller
An Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year
Now a Major Motion Picture
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor’s bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock- therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing and bestselling account of an ordinary boy’s survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

More Spotlights at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Lists/Gay Novels

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Blog Tour: Damian's Discipline by K.C. Wells & Parker Williams

Damian's Discipline (Collars and Cuffs Book 5) by K.C. Wells and Parker Williams
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press; 1 edition (October 24, 2014)
Amazon Kindle: Damian's Discipline (Collars and Cuffs Book 5)

The man who pimped Jeff may be in prison, but Jeff is still living the nightmare, selling himself to men and relying on pills to manage. Then he meets Scott, a young American man who could easily have been where Jeff is now. Scott’s friends extend a helping hand to Jeff, and he grabs it.
Leo and Thomas bring Jeff to stay with Dom Damian Barnett until they can find him someplace more long-term. Still grieving from losing his sub to cancer two years before, Damian agrees to help. But when he glimpses the extent of the damage, Damian wants to do more than offer his guestroom. Jeff is not a submissive, but Damian can see he desperately needs structure in his life. It’s up to Damian to find an answer.

He never expects that what he discovers will change both their lives.

( General Excerpt )

( Exclusive excerpt )

Author Bios:
K.C. Wells:
Born and raised in the north-west of England, K.C.Wells always loved writing. Words were important. Full stop. However, when childhood gave way to adulthood, the writing ceased, as life got in the way.
K.C. discovered erotic fiction in 2009, where the purchase of a ménage storyline led to the startling discovery that reading about men in love was damn hot. In 2012, arriving at a really low point in life led to the desperate need to do something creative. An even bigger discovery waited in the wings – writing about men in love was even hotter...
K.C. now writes full-time and is loving every minute of her new career.
The laptop still has no idea of what hit it... it only knows that it wants a rest, please. And it now has to get used to the idea that where K.C goes, it goes.
Parker Williams:
Parker Williams began to write as a teen, but never showed his work to anyone. As he grew older, he drifted away from writing, but his love of the written word moved him to reading. A chance encounter with an author changed the course of his life as she encouraged him to never give up on a dream. With the help of some amazing friends, he rediscovered the joy of writing, thanks to a community of writers who have become his family.
Parker firmly believes in love, but is also of the opinion that anything worth having requires work and sacrifice (plus a little hurt and angst, too). The course of love is never a smooth one, and Happily Ever After always has a price tag.

Author Contact:
K.C. Wells:
K.C. can be reached via email (k.c.wells@btinternet.com), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/KCWellsWorld), on Twitter (@IslandTalesPres or through comments at the K.C.Wells website (www.kcwellsworld.com ) K.C. loves to hear from readers.
Parker Williams:
Website: http://www.parkerwilliamsauthor.com 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkerWAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.75641
E-mail: parker@parkerwilliamsauthor.com



Tour Dates/Stops:
October 10: MM Good Book Reviews, Butterfly-O-Meter
October 13: Prism Book Alliance, Iyana Jenna
October 14: Multitasking Mommas, Rebecca Cohen Writes
October 15: Because Two Men Are Better Than One, Havan Fellows
October 16: Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Tara Lain
October 17: Jade Crystal, Hearts on Fire
October 20: Love Bytes, Velvet Panic
October 21: Fallen Angel Reviews, Cathy Brockman Romances
October 22: 3 Chicks After Dark, Lee Brazil
October 23: Rainbow Gold Reviews, Elisa - My Reviews and Ramblings

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