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 THE PIONEER
With the release of Michael Tolliver Lives earlier this year, one of our greatest writers proves he won't be slowing down anytime soon
"I didn’t expect it to hit me as hard as it did," writer and activist Armistead Maupin tells me about his intimate February 2007 wedding to partner Christopher Turner. “It felt like the most important moment of my life. This will not be progress if we suddenly have this whole new breed of gay bridezillas!”
It’s a classic Maupin moment: honest sentiment pricked with the pin—or pen—of social commentary. The author of the Tales Of The City series, Maupin’s stories mix the over-the-top plot twists with characters based on the real denizens of his beloved San Francisco. For almost thirty years, readers have fallen for the series’ transgendered matriarch, Anna Madrigal, and her protagonists, the naïve Mary Ann Singleton and the soon-to-be-gay-icon Michael “Mouse” Oliver.
Without sacrificing his wit, Maupin was one of the first writers to chronicle AIDS, particularly the epidemic’s effect on its survivors. “During most of the ’80s, whenever I went on a book tour, I was the person who spoke about AIDS,” Maupin recalls. “I’ve never been an expert on AIDS, but I felt a responsibility to do it because very few other people were. Ironically, I think that’s why I have a reputation today. I’m not the best writer or the smartest one or the bravest one, but I did it when nobody else was doing it.”
The books were a huge sensation. Mouse’s famous coming-out letter was actually Maupin’s own announcement to his parents. They read it along with thousands of closeted men, who were so moved that, Maupin says, “they simply changed the name on the letter and sent it to their own parents.” It changed him too: “I didn’t start to be a good writer until I came out…because I had not gotten to the heart of myself.”
It’s tempting to peck at the similarities between Maupin, now 63, and his character Mouse, but the author stresses, “There’s so much of me in Mary Ann.” He says his long friendship with actress Laura Linney, who’s played Mary Ann in three Tales miniseries, came from the bond of the character. “We both instinctively knew that we understood each other, because she understood Mary Ann.”
Maupin genuinely believed he had finished the series in 1989 but was galvanized in recent years by what he calls “a generation of gay men that survived homophobia and started a revolution, and then survived AIDS and were now settling into their maturity.” He spent 18 months writing Michael Tolliver Lives, which was released this past summer and focuses on Mouse, now in his 50s, but features appearances from the core Tales characters.
When I express relief over Mary Ann’s reappearance in the book, Maupin gives me a scoop: “My next novel is tentatively called Mary Ann In Autumn, about a 57-year-old woman trying to reinvent herself, much as she did when she was 25.”
There have been some memoir-worthy twists in Maupin’s own life. When I ask if it’s true he was a lover of Rock Hudson’s, he retorts, “That’s the British—they keep using that term. I was a fuck buddy of Rock Hudson’s…it wasn’t exactly an elite club!”
Maupin laughs when I attempt to ease into a question by mentioning U.K. newspaper The Guardian. One of their journalists visited the author at home and quietly noted a black-and-white photo of a young, nude man. When the profile was published, Guardian readers were treated to the report that Maupin was “dauntingly well hung.”
“The photo is actually of a 1907 Sicilian youth—it’s not me!” he exclaims. “I called [actor and longtime friend] Ian McKellen and said, ‘Do I let people think I’m the kind of guy that has a naked picture of myself in the living room for a reporter to see?’ and he said, ‘I think I’d leave it alone!’ ”
It’s been an eventful year for Maupin, with a wedding and a new book. He’s also found emotional gratification in meeting his readers at the public appearances he’s been making since the book’s release. It’s become a familiar occurrence for people to approach the author in tears. “That can’t help but be moving to me,” he says of his interaction with longtime readers. “They’re not crying over my writing, they’re crying over something that happened to them at some point in their lives. That makes me feel I’ve done something useful.”
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Instinct Online 
written by David (MartianCowboy) on November 10, 2007
Armistead is one of the most wonderful authors of our time. His work is so accessible that it can mean something to everyone, with clear messages about humanity, love and life. He truly is an inspirational man. Thanks to xolondon for the article - great music AND literary taste!
written by tsk on December 06, 2007
Again further proof of the superficiality of the gays. Only 2 comments for Maupin, yet all these unknown white models get all these groupies praising them or calling them handsome and such. This is just so heartwarming!
written by katie oneil on March 14, 2008
http://www.online4love.com/ is the primary way my husband and I meet likeminded "friends with benefits." There's no uncomfortable wondering if you ought to approach someone, you already know upfront when you meet them, and it is definitely worth the extra cost of becoming silver/gold imo, so you can exchange notes or pics before meeting and make sure its a good fit.
My hubby is str8 and I am bi and we have had no problem finding partners on online4love.com. We've had fun sex with lots of single men, single women and full swap couples that we met on O4L. And yes, I'm real, and no, I don't work for O4L or think they're perfect (they can be pricey and they goober up email sometimes,) but I think they're the best thing going by far for meeting other people who just want to have sex without strings!
For those complaining about the cost?ok, I agree, but I think you get what you pay for. I pretty much don't write people unless I can see what they look like and all, not because I'm shallow or a snob but because I want to know THEY'RE for real too and don't trust blank profiles...can you blame me? Also, it can be risky to contact people to swing with! Are they my boss? My brother? Twice my age? You get my drift. I?d like to know who I?m initiating a conversation with! The extra cost put into a good profile helps narrow down those you want to meet. How long do you pause on a profile that does not show a picture? (Faces can always be ?smudged? until you know each other better to avoid embarrassing compromises.) And, although we are admittedly "just after recreational sex", part of having fun is that we have to LIKE our bedpartners too, so we look for things like a sense of humor and easygoing fun nature and a ?click?. (And more expensive memberships include more matching criteria and stuff, too to help the odds of getting that ?click? without too much searching.) So I guess I'm saying that if you don't cough up the extra cash for a full membership, don't expect overwhelming responses. There are lots of people who post their pictures and info, so when looking for people it's easy to breeze by the ones that don't. We may miss out on meeting some great people because of it...but we meet lots of great people too.
I agree there?s a high ratio of men to women, but I don?t know why that surprises anyone. Seems expected to me?although many women love sex, there do seem to be a lot more guys that are ok with swinging or casual sex than girls, for whatever reasons, and that?s not specific to O4L.
I definitely vote that it is worth the time and the money! We've had many a fun night of frolic thanks to connections we made on O4L.