reviews_and_ramblings | Jan. 15th, 2015

Jan. 15th, 2015

Mazo de la Roche (January 15, 1879 – July 12, 1961), born Mazo Louise Roche in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, was the author of the Jalna novels, one of the most popular series of books of her time.

Mazo de la Roche was the only child of William Roche, a salesman, and Alberta (Lundy) Roche (Alberta was a great-great niece of David Willson founder of the Children of Peace through the latter's elder half brother Hugh L. Willson). She was a lonely child and the family moved frequently during her childhood due to the ill health of her mother and her father's many jobs. She became an avid reader and developed her own fictional world that she called "The Play" in which she created imaginary scenes and characters. She wrote her first short story at the age of nine.

One of the family's moves meant some years on a farm owned by a wealthy man who farmed as a hobby. There de la Roche began to develop her fictional world of rural aristocracy that would become Jalna.

At the age of seven, her parents adopted de la Roche's orphaned younger cousin Caroline Clement (born April 4, 1878), who joined in her fantasy world game and would become her lifelong companion. “Because they were born only nine months apart and raised together from childhood, their relationship would have been symbiotic. De la Roche found in Clement not only subject matter but also reason to live.” –Heather Kirk. The two lived a fairly reclusive life; their relationship was not discussed widely in the press. In 1931 they adopted two children whose parents were friends of Clement and de la Roche and who had died.

Mazo de la Roche was the author of the Jalna novels, one of the most popular series of books of her time. At the age of seven, Mazo de la Roche's parents adopted her orphaned younger cousin Caroline Clement, who joined in her fantasy world game and would become her lifelong companion. The two lived a fairly reclusive life; their relationship was not discussed widely in the press. In 1931 they adopted two children whose parents were friends of Clement and de la Roche and who had died.

Caroline Clement & Mazo de la Roche are buried one near each other in the St. George’s churchyard at Sibbald Point Provincial Park near Sutton West, Ontario.

( Read more... )

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

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2188509.html

Frances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston (15 January 1864 – 16 May 1952) was one of the earliest American female photographers and photojournalists. (P: ©Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection/LOC cph.3b11893. Frances Benjamin Johnston in her Washington, D.C. studio (©1))

The only surviving child of wealthy and well connected parents, she was born in Grafton, West Virginia, raised in Washington, D.C., and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris and the Washington Students League following her graduation from Notre Dame of Maryland Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies in 1883 (now known as Notre Dame of Maryland University). An independent and strong-willed young woman, she wrote articles for periodicals before finding her creative outlet through photography after she was given her first camera by George Eastman, a close friend of the family, and inventor of the new, lighter, Eastman Kodak cameras. She received training in photography and dark-room techniques from Thomas Smillie, director of photography at the Smithsonian.

She took portraits of friends, family and local figures before working as a freelance photographer and touring Europe in the 1890s, using her connection to Smillie to visit prominent photographers and gather items for the museum's collections. She gained further practical experience in her craft by working for the newly formed Eastman Kodak company in Washington, D.C., forwarding film for development and advising customers when cameras needed repairs. In 1894 she opened her own photographic studio in Washington, D.C., on V Street between 13th and 14th Streets, and at the time was the only woman photographer in the city. She took portraits of many famous contemporaries including Susan B. Anthony, Mark Twain and Booker T. Washington. Well connected among elite society, she was commissioned by magazines to do "celebrity" portraits, such as Alice Roosvelt's wedding portrait, and was dubbed the "Photographer to the American court." She photographed Admiral Dewey on the deck of the USS Olympia, the Roosevelt children playing with their pet pony at the White House and the gardens of Edith Wharton's famous villa near Paris.

©Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection/LOC cph.3a47220. Frances Benjamin Johnston, with Mattie, with a painted backdrop of the Cliff House in San Francisco, California, 1903 (©1)
Fannie Johnston was one of the earliest American female photographers and photojournalists. In 1901, Mattie Edwards Hewitt traveled to the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, where she met Fannie. Hewitt divorced her husband, photographer Arthur Hewitt, in 1909 and moved with Johnston to New York City. The two women embarked as partners, seizing the opportunity presented by a wave of public building in New York to establish themselves as architectural photographers. Despite their successes, the partnership ended in a bitter conflict in 1917, leaving both Hewitt and Johnston to pursue independent careers.

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2975529.html

Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 - 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is remembered for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film Bride of Frankenstein (1935). (P: ©William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1941)/Manchester City Galleries. Ernest Thesiger (©4))

The grandson of the Baron Chelmsford, Thesiger was born in London, England and was the first cousin once removed of the explorer and author Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003), and the nephew of General Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, who, exactly a week after Ernest's birth, famously led his troops in battle against — and defeat at the hands of — a Zulu army at the Battle of Isandlwana.

Thesiger attended Marlborough College and the Slade School of Art with aspirations of becoming a painter, but quickly switched to drama, making his professional debut in a production of Colonel Smith in 1909. He enlisted in the armed forces at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, allegedly hoping to be assigned to a Scottish regiment because he wanted to wear a kilt, but was wounded in the field and sent home. (At a dinner party shortly after his return, someone asked him what it had been like in France, to which he is supposed to have responded "Oh, my dear, the noise! and the people!") In 1917, he married Janette Mary Fernie Ranken (1877-1970), sister of his close friend and fellow Slade graduate William Bruce Ellis Ranken. In her biography of Thesiger's friend, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Hilary Spurling suggests that Thesiger and Janette wed largely out of their mutual adoration of William, who shaved his head when he learned of the engagement. Another source states more explicitly that Thesiger made no secret of his homosexuality.

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2975971.html

James Thurston "Jim" Nabors (born June 12, 1930) is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing Gomer Pyle. The character proved popular, and Nabors was given his own spin-off show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. On January 29, 2013, Hawaii News Now reported that Nabors married his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader (born 1949), at Seattle, Washington's Fairmont Olympic Hotel on January 15, a month after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington. The couple met in 1975 when Cadwallader was a Honolulu firefighter.

"I'm 82 and he's in his 60s and so we've been together for 38 years and I'm not ashamed of people knowing, it's just that it was such a personal thing, I didn't tell anybody," Nabors said. "I'm very happy that I've had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I'm just very happy."

Though best known for his portrayal of Gomer Pyle, Nabors became a popular guest on variety shows in the 1960s and 1970s (including two specials of his own in 1969 and 1974), which showcased his rich baritone voice. He subsequently recorded numerous albums and singles, most of them containing romantic ballads.

Nabors is also well known for singing "Back Home Again in Indiana," prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500, held annually over the Memorial Day Weekend.

Jim Nabors is an American actor and singer. On January 15, 2013, Nabors married his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader. The couple met in 1975 when Cadwallader was a Honolulu firefighter. "I'm 82 and he's in his 60s and so we've been together for 38 years and I'm not ashamed of people knowing, it's just that it was such a personal thing, I didn't tell anybody, Nabors said. I'm very happy that I've had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I'm just very happy."

( Read more... )

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

( Further Readings )

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2117280.html

Stan Leventhal wrote Faultlines, Mountain Climbing in Sheridan Square and A Herd of Tiny Elephants, a collection of short stories about male relationships. The stories span many literary styles including: romance, fantasy, science-fiction, horror, westerns and erotica). He died on January 15, 1995, of AIDS related complications.

"My real friend was a writer named Stan Leventhal. All of his books are out of print now. And the harsh truth is that Stan never really became a great writer. But he wanted to be. My favorite story of his was in the final book published in his lifetime, Candy Holidays and Other Short Fictions, where Stan remembers the last man he unknowingly infected. However, Stan was a great friend. He liked to have a Jack Daniels and a cigarette; he took AZT with bourbon sometimes. A tall skinny guy, clean shaven with short brown hair, he was kind of a hippie, wore a jean jacket, T-shirt and had a backpack. Stan read everything and was one of the first men I'd met who actually read lesbian fiction and loved it.

He lived in a filthy apartment on Christopher Street overlooking the park. It was packed with books and CDs, his guitar and TV. He'd come to the city from Long Island to be a singer and started out on the folk circuit. He'd broken up with the love of his life right before we made friends and plunged himself into the creation of Amethyst Press, which probably published the most interesting collection of gay male writing in the history of our literature. He published books by Dennis Cooper, the late Bo Houston, the late Steve Abbott, Kevin Killian, Patrick Moore, Mark Ameen-all important, under-appreciated artists. After working at porn magazines like Torso for years, Stan had a formula. He'd publish a highly intellectual, formally innovative novel by a gifted writer and then slap a piece of beefcake on the cover so it would sell. His favorite writer was Guy Davenport, to whom he'd written a comprehensive and adoring monograph.

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( Stan Leventhal, 1987, by Robert Giard )

( Further Readings )

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2581110.html

Roy Dowell is a California contemporary visual artist. He was born in 1951 in New York and his work combines collage and painted elements, and elements of mass media to create abstract compositions. (P: Lari Pittman and Roy Dowell - LACMA 2013 Art + Film Gala Honoring Martin Scorsese)

Dowell received a Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Arts (1977) from California Institute of the Arts, where he also met his life partner, the painter Lari Pittman. Pittman and Dowell have been building for nearly a dozen years Parque Oaxaca, a three-quarter-acre private garden.“I think of it as community service,” Pittman says, smiling and watching the hummingbirds and blue jays flit through the spray. The thick coastal scrub in the steep arroyo just beyond the garden is full of thirsty birds and animals — deer, bobcat, quail, fox, even bears. Occasionally he encounters a 4-foot-long green-striped garden snake during his watering chores. Rather than panic, as he might once have done, Pittman says hello.

Pittman and Dowell have been pillars in the modern art world for 30 years, exhibiting their work in galleries and museums around the globe. A couple since the mid-70s, their artistic styles are in many ways polar opposites. Pittman’s large canvases are often a chaos of images and messages frozen in a pleasing clarity, a humorous tumble down Alice’s rabbit hole. By contrast, Dowell’s collages are abstract, forms and colors that speak to the emotions wordlessly, like free-form jazz.Their garden high in the Verdugo Hills is a collaboration of both sensibilities: playful, dramatic, perfectly staged, and expertly balanced.

In 1998, when the couple heard about a six-acre parcel for sale in the foothills, they jumped at the chance to get such a large chunk of land just minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The property had been an unfinished development project of iconic Modernist architect Richard Neutra and included a 1953 wood-and-glass building with views all the way to the ocean. After living there for a few years, the couple commissioned local architect Michael Maltzan to build an additional home on the property, where they now reside. Bright white and modernistic, it sits below the Neutra house (which now hosts guests), closer to the garden.

Roy Dowell is a California contemporary visual artist. His work combines collage and painted elements, and elements of mass media to create abstract compositions. Lari Pittman is an American painter. Pittman received his MFA from the Cal Arts in 1976. There he met his life partner, the abstract painter Roy Dowell who he has lived with ever since. Pittman and Dowell have been pillars in the modern art world for 30 years, exhibiting their work in galleries and museums around the globe.

Lari Pittman and Roy Dowell have been building for nearly a dozen years Parque Oaxaca, a three-quarter-acre private garden. The property had been an unfinished development project of iconic Modernist architect Richard Neutra and included a 1953 wood-and-glass building with views all the way to the ocean. The couple commissioned local architect Michael Maltzan to build an additional home on the property. Bright white and modernistic, it sits below the Neutra house, closer to the garden.

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Dowell & www.gardendesign.com/roy-dowell-and-lari-pittmans-cactus-garden-in-los-angeles

( Further Readings )

More Artists at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2659370.html

Torvald Tu (22 July 1893 – 15 January 1955) was a Norwegian poet, playwright, novelist and writer of humoresques. From 1937 he lived with musician Trygve Johannes Stangeland (1898–1969). They also cooperated professionally on many occasions. Tu died in January 1955 near his home.

He was born in Klepp as a son of farmers. His literary debut was the 1914 play Storbrekkmyri, and his first poetry collection Blomar fraa heid came in 1915. He wrote in Nynorsk with strong hints of his own Jæren dialect. His most successful play was the musical comedy Kjærleik på Lykteland, issued in 1923 and staged at Det Norske Teatret. The play had music composed by Per Reidarson, and was produced by Agnes Mowinckel, with Lars Tvinde as the elder bachelor, and Mally Haaland portraying the anxious-to-be-married Anna Saueland. The play was one of the greatest successes for Det Norske Teatret, and simultaneously went on two parallel tours. In 1929 Tu's comedy Friarleik på Liland, with music by Trygve Stangeland, was staged at Det Norske Teatret. His comedy Bertels gjenvordigheter, was played 133 times in 1933 at Komedieteatret in Bergen, which also staged several others of his plays. His works became very popular at Nynorsk amateur theatres throughout the country.

In total he issued over fifty books, and some works have been translated to other languages, notably Swedish and Faroese. He also contributed to newspapers and magazines. His song Sjå Jæren, gamle Jæren has later achieved status as a "national" song for the Jæren district, and his popular humoresques have seen new and increasing popularity in later years. After the German occupation of Norway ended in 1945, a minor controversy arose as Tu was admonished by the Norwegian Authors' Union for not following the union policy to "strike" during the occupation—Tu had released four titles in 1943.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torvald_Tu

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

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2613439.html

Wayne Self’s musical play, Upstairs, is about the 1973 arson fire that took 32 LGBT lives. This deadliest crime against LGBT people in U.S. History has been virtually ignored by the media and its victims largely forgotten. Wayne’s play tells the amazing stories of many victims and survivors.

As Alan Bennett Ilagan beautifully recounts in his The Couple Profile, almost two decades ago, Cody Braswell and Wayne Self found each other. They made their initial acquaintance old-school style in Shreveport, LA. As Wayne remembers it, “I first laid eyes on Cody as he was walking across campus at Centenary College of Louisiana, where we both went to school, but I didn’t meet him until later, at a frat party, where we shared a cigarette. Still later, we had Spanish class together. It was early-morning and I was very busy with editing the campus newspaper, so I rarely made an appearance. When I did, he was always surrounded by so many female admirers that I could hardly approach him. Truth was, he was in a relationship with a friend of mine. I had to wait until he was available before I could pursue, but my timing was always off, since there was always someone after him.” As for whether it was love at first sight, Wayne is more reticent. “It was definitely lust at first sight,” he admits, “But more than lust. Interest. I wanted to know him. I wanted to spend time with him. But he was also the forbidden fruit.”

Cody remembers things in much the same way. “Wayne and I ‘officially’ met in Spanish Class during my Junior year of college… (Honestly, the very first time we met was at a frat party – I think sometime earlier in the year – I forget who bummed a smoke from whom – maybe we just shared one…anyway, I remember thinking then “Wow.”) We really didn’t talk much during class. I was dating someone else at the time and was still in the closet. Wayne was a ‘bad-boy’ – out and proud – [and you were] instantly outed if you hung out with him. We didn’t start talking until the summer after I went through a rather nasty breakup.” For Cody too, it was “more like lust at first sight. I can’t imagine a relationship getting started without that initial physical attraction, right? It was instant attraction at that very first encounter, but as I mentioned, I was in a relationship at the time. Love was quick to come once we actually spent some time together.”

Wayne Self’s musical play, Upstairs, is about the 1973 arson fire that took 32 LGBT lives. This deadliest crime has been virtually ignored by the media and its victims largely forgotten. Wayne’s play tells the amazing stories of many victims and survivors. Almost 2 decades ago, Cody Braswell and Wayne Self found each other. “It was definitely lust at first sight,” he admits, “But more than lust. Interest. I wanted to know him. I wanted to spend time with him. But he was also the forbidden fruit”

( Read more... )

Source: www.alanilagan.com/gay/the-couple-profile-cody-wayne/

( Further Readings )

More Real Life Romance at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Gay Classics

Crossposts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2637860.html

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Page Summary

Caroline Clement & Mazo de la Roche
Frances Benjamin Johnson & Mattie Edwards Hewitt
Ernest Thesiger & William Bruce Ellis Ranken
Jim Nabors & Stan Cadwallader
Stan Leventhal (1952 - January 15, 1995)
Lari Pittman & Roy Dowell
Torvald Tu & Trygve Johannes Stangeland
Cody Braswell & Wayne Self

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All cover art, photo and graphic design contained in this site are copyrighted by the respective publishers and authors. These pages are for entertainment purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended. Should anyone object to our use of these items please contact by email the blog's owner.
This is an amateur blog, where I discuss my reading, what I like and sometimes my personal life. I do not endorse anyone or charge fees of any kind for the books I review. I do not accept money as a result of this blog.
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Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. However, some books were purchased by the reviewer and not provided for free. For information on how a particular title was obtained, please contact by email the blog's owner.
Days of Love Gallery - Copyright Legenda: http://www.elisarolle.com/gallery/index_legenda.html

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Elisa - My reviews and Ramblings

LGBT reviews and ramblings since 2006

Jan. 15th, 2015

Jan. 15th, 2015

Caroline Clement & Mazo de la Roche

Frances Benjamin Johnson & Mattie Edwards Hewitt

Ernest Thesiger & William Bruce Ellis Ranken

Jim Nabors & Stan Cadwallader

Stan Leventhal (1952 - January 15, 1995)

Lari Pittman & Roy Dowell

Torvald Tu & Trygve Johannes Stangeland

Cody Braswell & Wayne Self

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