Witt Lynn - Out in all directions: a treasury of gay and lesbian America

Copyright 1995 by Lynn Witt, Sherry Thomas, and Eric Marcus

All rights reserved.

Warner Books, Inc.

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

First eBook Edition: September 2009

ISBN: 978-0-446-56721-3

A Treasury of Gay and Lesbian America

PACKED WITH WONDERFUL ARTICLES, LISTS, PHOTOS, AND QUOTES.

Womans Monthly

[A] SUPERB ADDITION TO THE FIELD OF GAY AND LESBIAN STUDIESA MUST FOR THE COMPLETE LIBRARY. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS YOUPORE OVER FOR HOURS.

Twn (FL)

ALMOST SCREAMED TO BE A BOARD GAME . THOUGH HUMOR AND ENTERTAINMENT PLAY A BIG PART IN THE VALUE OF THIS BOOK, THERES ALSOPLENTY OF MORE SOBER INFORMATION.

Echo Magazine

FASCINATINGPROVOCATIVE AND FUNNY.

Contax Guide (FL)

This book is dedicated to

Beverly Remer
and
Clara Ann Simmons

for their unconditional love
and support

I have read hundreds of books in my lifetime, but until I wrote one myself. Id never understood why some authors felt theneed to include long lists of people in their acknowledgments. But the truth is, without all these people. no book would everget published, not because the author didnt have great ideas, but because, especially in a nonfiction project such as thisone, it takes more than vision to make a book.

Sherry. Eric, and I would like to thank the following volunteers and staff members who edited, typed, wrote letters, did research.proofread, fetched lunch, and helped out in other ways too numerous to mention: Al Baum, Megan Boler, Charlie Graham. MargaretCoins, Markham Hirt. Cullen Holliman, Jennifer Marshall (where are you?). Arwyn Moore. Ann Morse. Susan Regan. Joe Schubert,Jakki Spicer, Greg Walker. and most especially Steve Vezeris, to whom I owe more than can ever be repaid.

We need to thank the gay and lesbian booksellers and archivists around the country who shared with us their enormous wealthof knowledge, and provided contacts in communities and among people we might not otherwise have met. We would especially liketo thank Sherry Emory at Charis Books in Atlanta: Jim Marks at Lambda Book Report in Washington. D.C.; Bill Walker at the Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California: Barbara Grier from NaiadPress: and Cal Gough from the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association.

I would also like to thank Jennie McKnight for her dedication to the project and her help in reminding me of the complexityand diversity of the gay and lesbian community. Don Romesburg, our assistant editor, gets credit for coming up with the title.I would also like to thank Katherine Forrest for her friendship and encouragement on this project.

The editors thank Will Roscoe, Jewelle Gomez, Colin Robinson, Dennis Medina, and Alina Ever for helping us with the originalconception of what later became the chapter on identity.

There are dozens of people around the country who took the time to meet with us and the project staff, either in person orby phone, and they all deserve our thanks: Bill Benemann, Faygele Ben Miriam, Carrie Barnett, Michael Bronski, Harneen Chernow,Paula Ettlebrick, Joan Garner. Michael Goff, Trevor Halley. George Holdgrafer, John Howard, Arline Isaacson, Rupert Kinnard,Elizabeth Knowlton, Rene LaChance, Mev Miller, Sarah Petit, Howard Petrie, Cynthia Scott, Brett Shingledecker, Linda Stamps,Sarah Schulman, David and Francis Stocks, and Caitlyn Sullivan.

We want to thank Colleen Kapklein, our editor at Warner Books, for shaping what you see here and for having the patience tosee this project through. The staff at Wright Creative Associates, Inc., who had the task of taking 1,200 pages of manuscriptand turning it into a very readable book, were a delight to work with, especially Liz Noteware and Jeffrey Whitten.

Finally, it goes without saying that without our agent, Loretta Barrett, there would have been no book at all. I want to acknowledgeher friendship, support, and unwavering belief that made it possible for this ambitious fantasy to become a reality.

LYNN WITT

E veryone always asks how Out in All Directions came to he published. People want to know: Who came up with the idea? How did we convince a mainstream publisher to takeon such a book? Did we have an agent? Generally speaking, most authors of fiction write a book first and then, with or withoutthe help of an agent, they try to get it published. Nonfiction writers usually start with a proposal and some sort of chapteroutline. which they try to sell before completing the manuscript.

Out in All Directions, however, followed a somewhat different course on its way to publication. It was born one night in 1992 when Loretta Barrett,a New York literary agent, and Maureen Egan, editor-in-chief of Warner Books hardcover division, were having dinner. Lorettaand Maureen had first met twenty-five years earlier, when they both worked at the same publishing company. As their careersprogressed, theyve stayed friends, getting together throughout the years to talk shop and catch up. That evening, they hitupon the idea of a gay and lesbian almanacsomething they would both love to read.

Loretta immediately thought of Sherry Thomas, a writer shed known for twenty years and whose work shed edited in the 1970s,and gave her a call. Sherry had just begun work on a new job, so her initial impulse was to pass on the almanac. Loretta suggestedinstead that she think it over during the weekend. By Monday. an arrangement had been worked out whereby Lynn Witt, who wasgreat at managing complex projects, would oversee the almanac and would be involved in the daily development of the book,while Sherry provided creative input and direction. A proposal was put together for Warner Books, complete with sample pages.Shortly thereafter, Eric Marcus, author of several books including Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 19451990, joined the creative collaboration.

Everyone took an active part in editing and shaping the final product, the scope of which is enormous. The ten chapters ofthe almanac cover more than 175 different topics; fifty-five contributors wrote over ninety original pieces, and 125 writersgranted permission to reprint previously published works.

Each of the editors assumed a different role. In San Francisco, Sherry. provided creative direction and big picture assessment,and she shared her contacts around the country. Her publishing background and guidance were invaluable to the books completion.Lynn spent the first four months of this project traveling around the country soliciting contributors. Returning to San Francisco,she coordinated the day-to-day activities of the project, soliciting articles, organizing chapters, managing volunteers andpaid staff, and writing introductions and other pieces as needed. In New Fork, meanwhile, Eric provided contacts for potentialcontributors, feedback on the structure and content of each chapter, and moral support.

Late in the project, Don Romesburg was brought in as an assistant editor. With his experience working on Long Road to Freedom and Young, Gay and Proud, he was just the boost we needed to get this book out on time.