Paul Russell - The Coming Storm

Keith Kahla, General Editor

Buddies by Ethan Mordden

Joseph and the Old Man by Christopher Davis

Blackbird by Larry Duplechan

Gay Priest by Malcolm Boyd

One Last Waltz by Ethan Mordden

Gay Spirit by Mark Thompson, ed.

Valley of the Shadow by Christopher Davis

Love Alone by Paul Monette

On Being Gay by Brian McNaught

Everybody Loves You by Ethan Mordden

Untold Decades by Robert Patrick

Gay & Lesbian Poetry in Our Time
by Carl Morse & Joan Larkin, eds.

Tangled Up in Blue by Larry Duplechan

How to Go to the Movies by Quentin Crisp

The Body and Its Dangers and Other Stories
by Allen Barnett

Dancing on Tisha BAv by Lev Raphael

Arena of Masculinity by Brian Pronger

Boys Like Us by Peter McGehee

Dont Be Afraid Anymore by Reverend Troy

D. Perry with Thomas L. P. Swicegood

The Death of Donna-May Dean
by Joey Manley

Latin Moon in Manhattan by Jaime Manrique

On Ships at Sea by Madelyn Arnold

The Dream Life by Bo Huston

Show Me the Way to Go Home
by Simmons Jones

Winter Eyes by Lev Raphael

Boys on the Rock by John Fox

End of the Empire by Denise Ohio

Tom of Finland by F. Valentine Hooven III

Reports from the holocaust, revised edition
by Larry Kramer

Created Equal by Michael Nava
and Robert Dawidoff

Gay Issues in the Workplace
by Brian McNaught

Sportsdykes by Susan Fox Rogers, ed.

Sacred Lips of the Bronx
by Douglas Sadownick

West of Yesterday, East of Summer
by Paul Monette

Ive a Feeling Were Not in Kansas Anymore
by Ethan Mordden

Another Mother by Ruthann Robson

Close Calls by Susan Fox Rogers, ed.

How Long Has This Been Going On?
by Ethan Mordden

My Worst Date by David Leddick

Girljock: The Book by Roxxie, ed.

The Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr

Call Me by P. P. Hartnett

My Fathers Scar by Michael Cart

Getting Off Clean by Timothy Murphy

Mongrel by Justin Chin

Now That Im Out, What Do I Do?
by Brian McNaught

Some Men Are Lookers by Ethan Mordden

a/k/a by Ruthann Robson

Execution, Texas: 1987 by D. Travers Scott

Gay Body by Mark Thompson

The Venice Adriana by Ethan Mordden

Women on the Verge by Susan Fox Rogers, ed.

An Arrows Flight by Mark Merlis

Glove Puppet by Neal Drinnan

The Pleasure Principle by Michael Bronski

And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts

Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl

The Sex Squad by David Leddick

Bird-Eyes by Madelyn Arnold

Out of the Ordinary by
Noelle Howey and Ellen Samuels, eds.

For their various and invaluable contributions, I wish to thank Harvey Klinger, my agent; Keith Kahla, my editor; Ralph Sassone, Christopher Bram, Jill Rosenberg, Daisy, Sugar Baby in the sweet hereafter; Robert Tatum, Lawrence Schimel, Eric Brown, Darra Goldstein, Dean Crawford, Mark Valentine, Karen Robertson, the late James Lewton-Brain.

The young man came striding across the threshold of Louiss office with all the vigor and self-possession his recommendations had promised, and though something in Louiss soul paused there momentarily, he dismissed that pause as nothing but a shadow. Tracy Parkers handshake was firm, his smile clear and winning. And scrupulous punctuality, in Louiss book, always boded well.

Please. He gestured, and Tracy seated himself with the loose-limbed ease of someone who makes himself instantly at home. In deference to the mid-August swelter, he wore no jacket. Hed rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt and loosened his tie. His hair, Louis noticed, was in some need of a trim.

Not to worry, Tracy apologized as if having intuited his interviewers thoughts. He ran long fingers through lazy, straw-colored locks. Its as shaggy as youll ever see me. I just didnt have time to get it cut.

Certainly it was a promising start. Louis dabbed at his brow with a handkerchief and said, Thanks so much for getting yourself up here on a moments notice. I hope you wont hold the weather against us. The humidity can really be quite ferocious.

Tracy smiled indulgently. Its just as bad down in the city, he said.

I think youll find the humidity is even worse up here, Louis told him with some certainty. Then, glancing needlessly over Tracys rsum: I see youve been doing carpentry work the last few months.

Tracy held out a bare forearm. Hows this for a tan? Its probably the best shape Ill ever be in. At least my body. Though Im afraid my brains turned to mush. I get home at night and all I do is watch TV. I can hardly wait to get back to the life of the mind. Slumber of the mind is what I call the last six months or so. Im incredibly excited. Books and education and learning are what my real life is all about.

I have to say, Louis told him, that we were really very interested in you back in April. But unfortunately we only had the one position. Though now, as it turns out, we still have that position.

Tracy nodded amicably. Youve been left in the lurch, he said. Comfortablyor perhaps it was nervousnesshe rested his right ankle on his left knee, and proceeded to massage the knob of his anklebone.

Louis was a little disconcerted to see that Tracy wasnt wearing any socks. Left in the lurch. You could say that, he admitted.

What an odd phrase, Tracy said reflectively.

Louis didnt follow. He kept watching, with some skepticism, the gap between khaki cuff and black loafer.

I mean, Left in the lurch. What do you think that means, exactly? Left in the lurch. He mouthed the phrase with relish.

Youve got me, Louis confessed. The curiosity of the young intrigued him.

Do you ever think what a peculiar language we speak? Tracy went on. Whatever the cause, he seemed admirably able to generate his own enthusiasms out of thin air. When I was in college, I studied in Germany for a year. I hardly spoke a word of English the whole time, and what it made me realize was what an amazing language English really is. This crazy, jumbled-up language, not like German, thats so consistent, no exception to the rules. English seemed so alivelike, I dont know, some kind of slithering snake. I dont think the German department ever forgave me, but Germany was definitely an important learning experience for me.

Perhaps, Louis thought with a sigh, the young man would turn out to be something of a bore when one got to know him. This penchant his generation had for saying everything at once. Still, to call English a snake was somehow odd and interesting.

I have a long-standing interest in Germany myself, he felt he should mention, if for no other reason than to spare Tracy the need to fill him in too fully on what he called his learning experience.

Have you been there? Tracy asked animatedly. I mean, Im sure youve been there. But a lot?

It made Louis smile. Oh, fairly frequently, he told Tracy. My wife and I. Weve traveled all over. Munich, Dresden, Berlin, Stuttgart. We enjoy the cultural offerings, especially the opera. There are some splendid provincial operas, you know. We were in Freiburg

Freiburg, said Tracy. Thats exactly where I wasat the university. Freiburg im Breisgau.