Bradford Shellhammer & Georgi Balinov

Fab was founded in February 2010 by Jason Goldberg (entrepreneur) (formerly of XING AG and Jobster) and chief designer Bradford Shellhammer. The site was originally created as a social network for gay men and their friends before pivoting on June 9, 2011 into its model of daily design inspirations and sales.

Bradford Shellhammer (born 1977) grew up with his own version of the "running-away-to-the-circus" fantasy, but it wasn't until he met his fiance Georgi Balinov (born 1983) at an Equinox gym in New York that he realized that he could fulfill his fantasy on his wedding night on April 12, 2013.

“It’s not the first wedding I’ve planned," Shellhammer explained, not at all sheepishly. "When I met my current boyfriend, I was getting married, invitations were getting sent, everything was done, and then I met Georgi and fell in love. I met him and a month later, I called off my wedding."

The wedding took place in the baroque fantasy of the Russian Tea Room, all red brocade and gilded eagles, and as close an approximation as could be found of Balinov's native Bulgaria.


Fab was founded in February 2010 by Jason Goldberg and chief designer Bradford Shellhammer. The site was originally created as a social network for gay men and their friends before pivoting on June 9, 2011 into its model of daily design inspirations and sales. Bradford Shellhammer grew up with his own version of the "running-away-to-the-circus" fantasy, but it wasn't until he met his fiance Georgi Balinov at an Equinox gym in New York that he realized that he could fulfill his fantasy on his wedding night on April 12, 2013.

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www.out.com/out-exclusives/wedding-guide/vows/2013/04/12/bradford-shellhammer-georgi-balinov

Charles Ludlam & Everett Quinton

Charles Braun Ludlam (April 12, 1943 – May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright.

Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie (née Braun) and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in Greenlawn, New York, on Long Island, and attended Harborfields High School. The fact that he was gay was not a secret.

He performed locally in plays with the Township Theater Group, Huntington's community theater, and worked backstage at the Red Barn Theater, a summer stock company in Northport. While he was in his senior year of high school, he directed, produced and performed in Madman on the Roof by Kan Kikuchi, Theatre of the Soul, their own Readers' Theater adaptation of Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, as well as plays by August Strindberg and Eugene O'Neill with a group of friends, students from Huntington, Northport, Greenlawn, and Centerport. Their "Students Repertory Theatre" in the loft studio beneath the Posey School of Dance on Northport's Main Street was large enough to seat an audience of 25; their audiences were appreciative and enthusiastic, and the house was sold out for every performance. He received a degree in dramatic literature from Hofstra University in 1964, by which time he had officially come out. (Picture: Everett Quinton)

Ludlam joined John Vaccaro's Play-House of the Ridiculous, and after a falling out, became founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in New York City in 1967. His first plays were inchoate exercises: however, starting with Bluebeard he began to write more structured works, which, though they were pastiches of gothic novels, Lorca, Shakespeare, Wagner, popular culture, old movies, and anything else that might get a laugh, had more serious import. Theater critic Brendan Gill after seeing one of Ludlam's plays famously remarked, "This isn't farce. This isn't absurd. This is absolutely ridiculous!". Ludlam usually appeared in his plays, and was particularly noted for his female roles. He wrote one of the first plays to deal (though tangentially) with HIV infection; he was diagnosed with AIDS in March 1987. He attempted to fight the disease by putting his life-long interest in health foods and macrobiotic diet to use. He died of PCP pneumonia in St. Vincent's Hospital, New York. The street in front of his theatre in Sheridan Square was renamed "Charles Ludlam Lane" in his honor.


Stills from Museum of Wax, 1981-1987, directed by Charles Ludlam. black-and-white, 16 mm film, 21:00 min. Courtesy of the Estate of Charles Ludlam and Queer/Art/Film. (c) The Estate of Charles Ludlam.
Charles Ludlam was an American actor, director, and playwright. His most popular play, and the only one to enter the standard repertory, is The Mystery of Irma Vep, in which two actors manage, through a variety of quick-change techniques, to play seven roles in a send-up of gothic horror novels. The original production featuring Ludlam and his lover Everett Quinton was a tour de force. Quinton, his lover, tried to no avail to keep the company going after Ludlam died in 1987.


AIDS Quilt

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

During this time, openly gay artists were writing and presenting their work without the interference of mainstream producers, managers, or curators. This new wave of theater, film, and art emerged in urban areas with thriving lesbian and gay communities. Caffe Cino, a Greenwich Village coffee house founded by Joe Cino, was the first off-off-Broadway theater. Joe Cino began by producing dramatic readings, but soon moved to presenting works by homosexual writers such as Oscar Wilde, Thornton Wilder, William Inge, and Terence Rattigan in ways that brought out their coded subtext. The radicalism of Caffe Cino and other companies that followed—Judson Poets’ Theater, Ridiculous Theater Company in 1964, the Cockettes in San Francisco in 1968, and New York’s Hot Peaches in 1969—was in presenting plays with explicit gay content in an openly gay environment. Major American playwrights such as Robert Patrick, Al Carmines, Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, Charles Ludlam, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and William M. Hoffman all emerged from this setting. --Bronski, Michael (2011-05-10). A Queer History of the United States (Revisioning American History) (Kindle Locations 4154-4158). Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.

( Further Readings )

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

James K. Lyons (October 8, 1960 – April 12, 2007)

James Lyons, known for his frequent work with Todd Haynes, died on April 12, 2007, in New York. The editor and actor starred in and edited Haynes' "Poison," winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991. Lyons edited Haynes' other projects: "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story," "Dottie Gets Spanked," "Safe," "Velvet Goldmine" (for which he also co-wrote the story) and "Far From Heaven." He also edited Esther Robinson's Berlinale Teddy Award winning documentary "A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory," which had its U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Born in October of 1960, James Lyons was a member of Act Up and was treated for H.I.V. for many years. He died of squamous cell cancer after more than a decade of treatment for H.I.V. (Picture: James Lyons in a scene from "Postcards from America" (1994). Photo provided by Killer Films)

Lyons' other editing credits include Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides," Jesse Peretz's "First Love, Last Rites," and "The Chateau," along with Peter Friedman's "Silverlake Life" and Ronnie Larson's "Shooting Porn," as well as Dan Harris' "Imaginary Heroes," Christopher Herrmann's "Ghostlight," Erik Skjoldbjaerg's "Prozac Nation," Tom Gilroy's "Spring Forward," Rea Tajiri's "Strawberry Fields," and John Johnson's "Ratchet." (Picture: Todd Haynes)

In addition to his work as an actor in "Poison," Lyons also appeared as Billy Name in Mary Harron's "I Shot Andy Warhol," played artist David Wojnarowicz in Steve McLean's "Postcards from America," and also acted in "The Chateau," and Todd Verow's "Frisk."

A number of friends who worked with James Lyons throughout his career shared their remembrances for this tribute originally published on IndieWire. Among those participating were "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" creator John Cameron Mitchell, "Spring Forward" director Tom Gilroy, film critic Amy Taubin, filmmakeer Esther Robinson, Strand Releasing co-president Marcus Hu, and producers Joana Vicente and Jason Kliot of Open City Films and HDNet Films.


Jim Lyons by Richard Cohen
James K. Lyons (October 8, 1960 – April 12, 2007), aka Jim, was an American film editor and actor who frequently collaborated with his then partner Todd Haynes. At the time they lived in Brooklyn, from 1989 until the late '90s. Jim Lyons and his late partner, Terrence Savage, bought an old farm in the Catskills beginning of the 2000s. When the Woodstock Film Festival began, just down the road, Jim became a strong supporter and the Editing Award is now renamed in his honor.

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Source: http://www.indiewire.com/article/remembering_jim_lyons_1960_-_2007

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James Schuyler (November 9, 1923 - April 12, 1991)

James Marcus Schuyler (9 November 1923 – 12 April 1991) was a major American poet in the late 20th century. He was a central figure in the New York School and is often associated with fellow New York School poets John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and Barbara Guest.

James Marcus Schuyler was the son of Marcus Schuyler (a reporter) and Margaret Daisy Connor Schuyler.

A native of Chicago, he attended Bethany College of West Virginia from 1941 to 1943. In recollection of his times at Bethany College, Schuyler said in an interview published in the spring of 1992, that he did not excel, "I just played bridge all the time."

Schuyler moved to New York City in the late 1940s where he worked for NBC and first befriended W. H. Auden. In 1947, he moved to Ischia, Italy, where he lived in Auden's rented apartment and worked as his secretary. Between 1947 and 1948, Schuyler attended the University of Florence.

After returning to the United States and settling in New York City, he roomed with John Ashbery and Frank O'Hara.

In April 1991, at age sixty-seven, Schuyler died in Manhattan following a stroke. His ashes were interred at the Little Portion Friary (Episcopal), Mt. Sinai, Long Island, New York.

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

( James Schuyler at the Chelsea Hotel - NYC, 1989/90, by Robert Giard  )

( Further Readings )

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

William M. Hoffman (born April 12, 1939)

William Moses Hoffman (born April 12, 1939) is an American playwright, editor and educator.

Born in New York City, New York, United States, Hoffman's earliest works either were mounted in small, experimental off-off-Broadway theaters in New York City or remain unproduced.

It was not until 1985 that he achieved critical acclaim and public recognition when the Broadway-theatre production of his play, As Is, one of the first plays to focus on AIDS, opened in New York City at the Lyceum Theatre, where it ran for 285 performances. Hoffman won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play (1985) and an Obie Award (1984-85 for Playwriting) and nominations for a Tony Award for Best Play (1985). The following year, he adapted the work for a television production directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

In 1991, Hoffman was commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera Company to write the libretto for The Ghosts of Versailles first produced in celebration of the company's centennial. A 1993-televised production starred Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, and Graham Clark. Hoffman earned an Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Classical Music/Dance Programming.

As an editor at Hill and Wang, Hoffman promoted the careers of Lanford Wilson, Tom Eyen, and Joe Orton, among others, by including their plays in either his New American Plays series or his anthology, Gay Plays: A First Collection.


LUCY SILVAY and WILLIAM M. HOFFMAN on Samuel Barber’s estate, 1963

Hoffman currently is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Lehman College at The City University of New York.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Hoffman

( William M. Hoffman, 1985, by Robert Giard  )

( Further Readings )

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

Blog Tour: Slaying Isidore's Dragons by C. Kennedy

Slaying Isidore’s Dragons by C. Kennedy
Paperback: 350 pages
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (April 9, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634760018
ISBN-13: 978-1634760010
Amazon: Slaying Isidore’s Dragons
Amazon Kindle: Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

5 Best friends
4 Vicious brothers
3 STD tests
2 Guys in love
1 Car bombing
&
Nowhere to run

Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

5 Weeks of hell
4 Attempts on their lives
3 Law enforcement agencies
2 Dead high school seniors
1 Jealous friend
&
A love that won’t be denied

Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

5 New family members
4 BFF’s
3 Countries
2 Extraordinary Psychologists
1 Courageous Mother
&
A new beginning for two young men in love

( Excerpt )

About Cody Kennedy: Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Cody doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Cody contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Cody can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

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