6 | November 2009 gayzette
Book Report -
My Diva
“My Diva: 65 Gay Men on the Women Eartha Kitt; and Montlack’s own Stevie
Who Inspire Them”, edited by Michael
Nicks (“an adopted fairy godmother”).
Montlack c.2009, Terrace Books
$24.95 / $29.95 Canada 304 pages
And then, there are the divas of TV and
screen: Jessica Lange, with the laugh
You’re not a painter.
that poet Allen Smith can never forget;
Auntie Mame, who made author Lewis
You’ve never, in fact, had any desire to
TOP STORY
DeSimone feel protected; and TV’s
pick up a brush other
Endora, whose witchy
than one for your hair.
powers were there for a
But still, the second you
young boy who needed
gazed upon that picture,
them.
it strangely, suddenly
felt like everything in
The interesting thing
your life shifted into
about “My Diva” is
place.
that, individually,
the stories feel rather
Or maybe it’s music that
voyeuristically weird.
inspires you, or a poem
Many of the authors
or story that makes
admit to having spent
certain emotions hit you
all their money on
hard. Perhaps it’s a fi lm
music, watching movies
or play that you could
dozens of times, never
watch over and over and
missing a TV show that
over and never see the
starred the diva. The
same thing. Whatever
tales border on a fan’s
it is, there might not
obsession times ten and
be anyone else who understands, but
if you were only to read one of them,
you’ve found something that makes life
you probably wouldn’t much like it.
somehow right.
But collectively, these stories blossom
Who’s your muse?
into a full-fl edged love letter to women
Sometimes a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
who inspired, written by men who
In the new book “My Diva”, edited
were once boys that badly needed
by Michael Montlack, you’ll read
http://gayzetteblog.com/2009/10/28/obama-signs-hate-crimes-bill/
encouragement. Filled with short
about the women who changed the lives
chapters of thoughtful sentiment, they
of 65 gay men.
capture sadness and joy, confusion
Obama HRC Speech
and wishing, friendship and adolescent
In his introduction, Michael Montlack
longing, as well as a sort of “thank-you”
says that he always felt a book like this
to women who were supportive, even if
The elite fags and their admirers (aka: HRC) held their big annual dinner
was waiting to be written. “The book
they didn’t know they were.
last night, where President Obama delivered a lovely speech.
just seemed to make sense on so many
levels,” he writes. “Gay men and divas
“My Diva” is not the kind of book you’ll
– like Gertrude and Alice, smoke and
What always strikes me as somehow messed up is that the GLBT commu-
want to rush through. It demands to be
mirrors, Patsy and Edina. It was sure to
nity will get all dressed up for a very fancy, very expensive dinner; and let
savored, begs to be identifi ed with. This
be organic….”
is the kind of book you take to the sofa
someone preach to them who really doesn’t share in our beliefs.
with a blanket, for a quiet afternoon’s
So he asked around and within
worth of a-muse-ment.
Weeks, months, years later, these same individuals - sit motionless on
two weeks, forty contributors had
their limp wrists, fi ngers crossed; just waiting for their elected leaders to
responded. Eventually, sixty-fi ve gay
deliver on empty promises . . .
men ages “twenty-something to eighty-
something” from various places around
the world shared their love; most of
http://gayzetteblog.com/2009/10/11/obama-hrc-speech/
them, for women they’d never met.
Writer Patrick Letellier writes about his
Project Shaft
muse, Elizabeth I. “I told myself that if
Elizabeth could withstand the Spanish
invasion with grace and grit, surely I
could survive the loss of a dear friend
IT’s HERE!
[to AIDS].”
Musicians and singers are highly
represented in this book, including
PLUS - MUCH MORE ON DENVER’S GAY BLOG!
Cher and Cyndi Lauper; Bessie Smith
(“defi ant, strong, and dominant”);
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