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Boogieman in Lavender

In Which Christopher Isherwood Signs In Twice. Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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In Which Christopher Isherwood Signs In Twice! By Jeff Baker I treated myself to a rather pricey early birthday present last month: a signed copy of Christopher Isherwood’s novel Prater Violet. The autograph from Isherwood (1904-1988) was what I paid an extra penny or two for. But I wound up getting more than I paid for. Not one, but two autographs, as well as something of a mystery. First, a little background. Christopher Isherwood was the well-traveled, openly Gay author of (among other works) “Mr. Norris Changes Trains” which inspired “Cabaret” and “A Solitary Man” which inspired the recent movie … Read more

Gay in the 1980s: Showtime’s Pioneering “Brothers” – Boogieman in Lavender

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The Nineteen-Eighties. It was literally a different era. Cable television was just catching on. Home computers were almost prohibitively expensive. “Google” was a misspelling of a Ukrainian writer. There were hardly any openly gay regular characters on T. V. Steven Carrington on “Dynasty,” and Jodie Dallas on “Soap” in the early 80s and that was about it. The intervening decades brought us “Will and Grace,” “Tales of the City” and the real and fictional versions of “Ellen.” And somehow the Waters Brothers and their friends have gotten lost in the shuffle and in the dim and musty years. In the … Read more

The Ghosts of E. F. Benson—Jeff baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Jeff Baker - Boogieman in Lavender

The Ghosts of E. F. Benson by Jeff Baker In that era of over a century ago there was a surfeit of novelists, intellectuals, humorists, archaeologists. As well as writers of otherwise “serious” literary literary fiction who dabbled in ghost stories. As well as families who produced more than one notable writer. British writer E. F. Benson (Edward Frederic Benson) fit all of those descriptions. Born in 1867 to an English cleric who later became Archbishop of Canterbury, Benson is best known today for his Mapp and Lucia novels, which have been adapted for radio, movies and Masterpiece Theater. His … Read more

A Little Magic and Some Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. “Three Left Turns to Nowhere” reviewed.—–Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Jeff Baker - Boogieman in Lavender

A Little Magic and Some Grilled Cheese Sandwiches By Jeff Baker Sometimes the road less traveled gets blocked by a falling tree. “Three Left Turns to Nowhere” Bold Strokes Books new anthology of three interconnected M/M romance novellas features stories by Jeffrey Ricker, J. Marshall Freeman and ‘Nathan Burgoine. All three stories are set in a little Ontario town called Hopewell, a town the locals say may have a bit of magic to it, at least where it comes to bringing people together. The three protagonists (all on the LGBT spectrum) are all on their way elsewhere (separately) when circumstances … Read more

The Gay Ghost: Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Ghosts

The Gay Ghost by Jeff Baker CBS’ supernatural comedy series “Ghosts” presents a twist on the haunted house story. A twist with a few gay turns. “Ghosts” presents us with Samantha and Jay, a couple who inherit a big Hudson Valley mansion, “Woodstone Manor” from a distant relative. Intending to convert the house into a bed-and-breakfast, Samantha (Rose McIver) has a near-death experience resulting in the ability to see and hear ghosts. After initial misgivings she and her husband Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) accept her new ability and the presence of spirits in the house. And Woodstone Manor has a squabbling … Read more

Truman Capote’s (Queer?) Tales of Fantasy. Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Truman Capote’s (Queer?) Tales Of the Fantastic by Jeff baker Hard to believe that a generation has gone by without knowing Truman Capote from their TV or movie screens as well as being parodied by comedians, all making him talked-about as not only one of the best-known American authors of the 20th Century but a master of self-promotion, gleefully eating it up every public chance he got. He was, of course, Gay (“Homosexual” was the term in his day) although he didn’t make a big deal of it, he certainly didn’t hide it. Sometime in his Twenties. Capote met the … Read more

Zenna Henderson: Quiet Rebel – Boogieman in Lavender

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For this fifth installment of this column’s occasional “On Beyond Cisgender” feature (a feature suggested by A. M. Leibowitz) about recommendations of books or stories for High School by authors outside the white, male, cisgender paradigm that has so often been the norm, the focus is on just one author, one who may not be so well-known as she was even twenty-five years ago. The lines between science fiction and fantasy are blurred. The definition of science fiction is even sort of blurred. Sometimes the better term is “Science Fantasy.” Zenna Henderson, very definitely wrote science fantasy. While spaceships and … Read more

Are We There Yet? (December, 2021)—-Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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Alien Sunset - Deposit Photos

Are We There Yet? By Jeff Baker The year is zipping to a close. Are we better off now than we were a year ago? Are things less hectic or at least horrifying than they were in December Twenty-Twenty? Plague? Check. Political unrest? Check. Genial acceptance of medical misinformation? Check. Yeah, there’s a lot of pessimism in this darkest time of the year, but there is room for optimism too. If you want symbolism, look no further than the sky. This is being written in Kansas in the second week of December. The Winter Solstice is a couple of weeks … Read more

Where Everybody Knows Your Name Is Walt Whitman—–Jeff Baker: Boogieman In Lavender

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Where Everybody Knows Your Name is Walt Whitman by Jeff Baker Laugh on laughers! Drink on drinkers! Bandy the jest! Toss the theme from one to another! Beam up—Brighten up, bright eyes of beautiful young men! ——-Walt Whitman, from “The Two Vaults.” There were no Pride flags flying in New York City in 1859. But if you were gay there were places to discreetly hang out. One was literally underground. Pfaff’s, a bar and restaurant located beneath the sidewalk at 647 Broadway, featured a dining area and a bar, literally in a cellar. Named for it’s owner Charles Pfaff, it … Read more

Halloween Reading Reccs 2021 – Boogieman in Lavender

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Extreme Haunted Housing

The Bat and the Raven; Halloween Reading for 2021 By Jeff Baker And now for Halloween reading recommendations with an LGBT flair. For the last few years I have recommended the two Lethe Press takes on Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This time, I’m going to go a bit more in-depth. “Suffered From the Night: Queering Stoker’s Dracula,” edited by Steve Berman with a title from Stoker’s novel, features variations on the themes, characters and story of the famous 1897 novel, only some of which has entered into the popular consciousness. The original novel is epistolary, that is, … Read more