Sassafras Lowrey (born May 16)

Sassafras Lowrey is a queer international award winning author, artist, storyteller and educator. Ze believes that everyone has a story to tell, and that the telling of stories is essential in the creation of social change. In 2004 In Other Words Feminist Bookstore honored hir as one of the top emerging writers in the Portland Oregon area. In both 2009 and 2012 GO Magazine honored hir as one of the 'top 100 women we love, and recently Sassafras Astraea Lesbian Writers Fund for Fiction.

Sassafras is the editor of the two time American Library Association honored, and Lambda Literary Finalist Kicked Out anthology (www.KickedOutAnthology.com) released in 2010. Kicked Out brought together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth from around the country. Sassafras' highly anticipated debute novel Roving Pack (www.RovingPack.com) was released in October 2012. Sassafras is currently editing Leather Ever After a BDSM retelling of fairy tales to be released in early 2013.

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Further Readings:

Roving Pack by Sassafras Lowrey
Paperback: 358 pages
Publisher: PoMo Freakshow (June 30, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0985700904
ISBN-13: 978-0985700904
Amazon: Roving Pack

Click, a straight-edge transgender kid, is searching for hir place within a pack of newly sober gender rebels in the dilapidated punk houses of Portland, Oregon circa 2002. Ze embarks on a dizzying whirlwind of leather, sex, hormones, house parties, and protests until hir gender fluidity takes an unexpected turn and the pack is sent reeling.

More Rainbow Awards at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, Rainbow Awards/2013

Barry Darr Dixon, Michael William Schmidt & Will Thomas

Michael William Schmidt of Elway Hall Warrenton VA died at his home on Friday December 17, 2010. Born in Cambridge, MA on May 16, 1965 to William G. and Ruth (Ritcher) Schmidt, Michael received a BA from University of Maryland and a MBA from John Hopkins and was a partner with Barry Dixon, Inc. (P: The 2013 Designer Series featuring Barry Darr Dixon)

A lover of animals and nature, Michael was a longtime supporter of the Fauquier SPCA and Middleburg Humane Foundation, as well as an active member of the Warrenton Hunt. His other favorite charities included the Fauquier Free Clinic and Charity Works of McLean, VA.

He is survived by his life partner Barry Darr Dixon who still preserve a 1957 Chevy Nomad that was a gift from his late partner. "Whenever I get a case of 'designer's block,' " says interior designer Barry Dixon, "I can coax Ellie, my wire-haired fox terrier, into a walk over hill and vale to the barn. By the time I'm back at my desk with a handful of thistle or a fruit-laden bow, the creative juices are flowing freely."

Dixon, known for his style of sophisticated Southern design with global influences, has lived since 1999 on 270 rolling acres in the horse country near Warrenton, Virginia. On the grounds of his 1907 Edwardian home, Elway Hall, three magnificent copper beeches that provide shade for picnics stand sentinel. Perhaps surprising to those who may have met the designer in more urbane settings, here he raises goats, llamas, and hens, keeps horses and bees, and tends an orchard as well as vegetable and flower gardens.


Barry Darr Dixon & Will Thomas
Interior designer Barry Dixon is known for his style of sophisticated Southern design with global influences. He lives since 1999 on 270 rolling acres in the horse country near Warrenton, Virginia, in a 1907 Edwardian home, Elway Hall. His late partner was Michael William Schmidt, whose joy in nature and animals was infectious, laid out the vegetable and cutting gardens. "He, more than any other, influenced me to look to nature for inspiration," Barry says. His current partner is Will Thomas, co-anchor of FOX 5 News.

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Source: www.traditionalhome.com/gardens/beautiful-gardens/designer-barry-dixons-garden-and-grounds (Jeanne Blackburn)

Adrienne Rich & Michelle Cliff

Adrienne Cecile Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse." In 1976, Rich began her lifelong partnership with Jamaican-born novelist and editor Michelle Cliff.

Her first collection of poetry, A Change of World, was selected by the senior poet W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award; he went on to write the introduction to the published volume. Rich famously declined the National Medal of Arts, protesting the United States House of Representatives and Speaker Gingrich's vote to end funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the older of two sisters. Her father, the renowned pathologist Arnold Rice Rich, was the Chairman of Pathology at The Johns Hopkins Medical School, and her mother, Helen Elizabeth (Jones) Rich, was a concert pianist (before she married) and a composer. Her father was from a Jewish family, and her mother was Southern Protestant; the girls were raised as Christians. Adrienne Rich's early poetic influence stemmed from her father who encouraged her to read but also to write her own poetry. Her interest in literature was sparked within her father's library where she read the work of writers such as Ibsen, Arnold, Blake, Keats, Rossetti, and Tennyson. Her father was ambitious for Adrienne and "planned to create a prodigy." Adrienne Rich and her younger sister were home schooled by their mother until Adrienne began public education in the fourth grade. The poems Sources and After Dark document her relationship with her father, describing how she worked hard to fulfill her parents' ambitions for her—moving into a world in which she was expected to excel. (Picture: Michelle Cliff)


Rich (right), with writer Audre Lorde (left) and Meridel Le Sueur (middle) in Austin Texas, 1980
Adrienne Rich was a poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", credited with bringing "the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse." In 1976, Rich began her lifelong partnership with Jamaican-born novelist and editor Michelle Cliff. In 1979, she received an honorary doctorate from Smith College and moved with Cliff to Montague. Rich and Cliff were editors of LGBT journals.

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

( Adrienne Rich by Robert Giard )

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

Liberace & Scott Thorson

Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987), mononymously known as Liberace, was an American pianist and vocalist. (P: Allan Warren. Portrait of Liberace at home Los Angeles, 1974)

A child prodigy, and the first generation son of working class immigrants, Liberace's career spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television, and endorsements. At the height of his fame from 1950s to the 1970s Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with established residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, and acquired the sobriquet "Mr. Showmanship". Liberace was recognised during his career with two Emmy Awards, six gold albums and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Coming of age during a time when being openly Gay could destroy one's career and endanger one's life, Liberace publicly and adamantly denied his sexual preference during his entire career. He successfully sued two publications via high profile lawsuits (The Daily Mirror and Confidential) who claimed he was Gay, winning thousands of dollars in compensation and legal fees. 

In 1982, Scott Thorson, Liberace's 22-year-old former chauffeur and live-in lover of five years, sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony after he was let go by Liberace. Liberace continued publicly to deny that he was homosexual and insisted that Thorson was never his lover. The case was settled out of court in 1986, with Thorson receiving a $75,000 settlement. Thorson stated after Liberace's death that he settled because he knew that Liberace was in profoundly ill health, and that he had intended to sue based on conversion of property rather than palimony.


Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987), mononymously known as Liberace, was an American pianist and vocalist. In 1982, Scott Thorson, Liberace's 22-year-old former chauffeur and live-in lover of five years, sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony after he was let go by Liberace. Liberace continued publicly to deny that he was homosexual and insisted that Thorson was never his lover. The case was settled out of court in 1986, with Thorson receiving a $75000 settlement.

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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace

( Further Readings )

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

Cheryl Clarke (born May 16, 1947)

Cheryl L. Clarke is a writer, educator and lesbian Black feminist activist, born in Washington DC in 1947.

Raised in Washington DC, some of her earliest work reflected the troubled times of the 1960s and the rebellions that ripped through the District of Columbia following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Clarke is the author of four collections of poetry from Firebrand Books: Narratives: Poems in the Tradition of Black Women (originally self-published in 1981); Living as a Lesbian, Humid Pitch and Experimental Love.

She also published After Mecca---Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement (Rutgers University Press), the first study of its kind in a field that traditionally only recognizes Black male poets; Days of Good Looks {Carroll & Graf Publishing), a collection of poems and essays and Corridors of Nostalgia a collection of poetry.

Cheryl Clarke has served on the editorial collective of Conditions, an early lesbian publication and has been published in numerous anthologies and journals including: Home Girls, The Callaloo Journal and Black Scholar.

A graduate of Howard University, Clarke later received her Masters and Ph.D in English from Rutgers University. This presaged a long relationship with the University where she has taught and worked. She is currently on the graduate faculty of the Rutgers University Department of Women and Gender Studies and the Director of Diverse Community Affairs and Lesbian/Gay Concerns. She presently serves as Dean of Students on the Livingston Campus at Rutgers University.

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

( Cheryl Clarke and Jewelle Gomez, 1987, by Robert Giard  )

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

Suzy Solidor & Tamara de Lempicka

Suzy Solidor (18 December 1900 – 30 March 1983) was a French singer and actress, appearing in films such as La Garçonne. (P: Man Ray. Suzy Solidor, 1929)

Suzy Solidor was born in 1900 in the Pie district of Saint-Servan-sur-Mer in Brittany, France, under the name of Suzanne Louise Marie Marion. She was the daughter of Louise Marie Adeline Marion, a 28-year-old single mother. In 1907 she became Suzy Rocher when her mother married Eugène Prudent Rocher. She later changed her name to Suzy Solidor when she moved to Paris in the late 1920s, taking the name from a district of Saint-Servan in which she had lived.

Early in 1930 she became a popular singer and opened a chic nightclub called La Vie Parisienne. She was openly lesbian.

One of the singer’s most famous publicity stunts was to become known as the “most painted woman in the world”. She posed for some of the most celebrated artists of the day including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Tamara de Lempicka, Marie Laurencin, Francis Picabia and Kees van Dongen. Her stipulation for sitting was that she would be given the paintings to hang in her club and by this time she had accumulated thirty-three portraits of herself. La Vie parisienne became one of the trendiest night spots in Paris.

Solidor met Tamara de Lempicka sometime in the early 1930s and Suzy asked the artist to paint her. Tamara agreed, but only if she could paint Solidor in the nude. Solidor agreed and the painting was finished in 1933.

During the occupation her nightclub was popular with German officers; in 1941 she recorded a version of the song "Lili Marleen" with French words by Henri Lemarchand. After the war she was convicted by the Épuration légale as a collaborator.


Solidor’s most famous portrait was done by Tamara de Lempicka
Suzy Solidor was a French singer and actress, appearing in films such as La Garçonne. Solidor met Tamara de Lempicka sometime in the early 1930s and Suzy asked the artist to paint her. Tamara agreed, but only if she could paint Solidor in the nude. Solidor agreed and the painting was finished in 1933. In 1941 she recorded the song "Lili Marleen" with French words by Henri Lemarchand and was popular with German officers. After the war she was convicted by the Épuration légale as a collaborator.


Man Ray. Suzy Solidor, 1929

She died on 30 March 1983 in Cagnes-sur-Mer and is buried in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, where she had lived.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Solidor

Tamara Łempicka, commonly known as Tamara de Lempicka (16 May 1898 – 18 March 1980) was a Polish Art Deco painter and "the first woman artist to be a glamour star". Influenced by Cubism, Lempicka became the leading representative of the Art Deco style across two continents, a favorite artist of many Hollywood stars, referred to as 'the baroness with a brush'. She was the most fashionable portrait painter of her generation among the haute bourgeoisie and aristocracy, painting duchesses and grand dukes and socialites. Through her network of friends, she was also able to display her paintings in the most elite salons of the era. Lempicka was criticized as well as admired for her 'perverse Ingrism', referring to her modern restatement of the master Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, as displayed in her work Group of Four Nudes (1925) among other studies. (P: d'Ora Studio. Tamara de Lempicka, Paris, 1929)

She was born Maria Górska in Warsaw, Congress Poland under the rulership of the Russian Empire, into a wealthy and prominent family. Lempicka was the daughter of Boris Gurwik-Górski, a Russian Jewish attorney for a French trading company, and Malwina Dekler, a Polish socialite who met him at one of the European spas. Maria had two siblings and was the middle child. She attended a boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland, and spent the winter of 1911 with her grandmother in Italy and on the French Riviera, where she was treated to her first taste of the Great Masters of Italian painting. In 1912, her parents divorced, and Maria went to live with her rich Aunt Stefa in St. Petersburg, Russia. When her mother remarried, she became determined to break away to make a life of her own. In 1913, at the age of fifteen, while attending the opera, Maria spotted the man she became determined to marry. She promoted her campaign through her well-connected uncle, and in 1916 she married Tadeusz Łempicki (1888–1951) in St. Petersburg—a well-known ladies' man, gadabout, and lawyer by title, who was tempted by the significant dowry.

In 1917, during the Russian Revolution, Tadeusz Łempicki was arrested in the dead of night by the Bolsheviks. Maria searched the prisons for him and after several weeks, with the help of the Swedish consul, she secured his release. They traveled to Copenhagen then to London and finally to Paris, to where Maria's family had also escaped.

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

( Further Readings )

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

2015 Rainbow Awards Submission: Waiting for the Moon and You by L.J. LaBarthe

Waiting for the Moon and You by L.J. LaBarthe
Gay Contemporary Romance
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 27, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1632168375
ISBN-13: 978-1632168375
Amazon: Waiting for the Moon and You
Amazon Kindle: Waiting for the Moon and You

All his life, Leith has loved Aaron, and all his life, Leith has wondered if Aaron returns his feelings. Through high school, college, and beyond, Leith and Aaron are drawn together and pulled apart. Leith is finally convinced he and Aaron are not meant to be when a cowardly act of violence against Leith changes everything.

Aaron returns to Leith's side, but Leith struggles to accept that Aaron can love him now.

If Leith doesn’t overcome his doubts and fears, he will forever be waiting for the moon and Aaron… and true love.

2015 Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2015.html