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Monday, April 19, 2021

Lee Wind Talks LGBTQ Hidden Lives & Secret Loves (AUDIO)


 

 

 

 

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with author Lee Wind about his new book “No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves” a Queer History Project published by Zest/Lerner. In “No Way, They Were Gay?” Wind takes the reader on a fascinating journey through primary sources of poetry, memoir, news clippings and images of ancient artwork to explore the hidden and often surprising Queer lives and loves of two dozen historical figures. History has often left out so many stories of our LGBTQ community and people who lived outside gender boundaries. Historians have even censored the lives and loves of some of the world's most famous people from William Shakespeare and Pharaoh Hatshepsut to Cary Grant and Eleanor Roosevelt. Wind skillfully revisits famous figures in the USA and world history by delving into primary sources and reassesses what's made legible about people's sexual and gender identities when the present and past are allowed to collide. The book is divided into three categories: men who loved men, women who loved women and people who lived outside of gender binaries. Wind not only delivers a long overdue education for everyone that reads this book but also helps our LGBTQ youth by providing role models that are among the most revered of leaders. We talked to Lee about what he hopes to accomplish with “No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves” and his spin on our LGBTQ issues. 

Lee Wind is the founding blogger and publisher of “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read?” an award-winning website about books, culture and empowerment for LGBTQ youth and their allies. For over 11 years readers from 100-plus countries have racked up 2.6 million page views and counting. Lee’s debut novel “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill” addressing the theory about Abraham Lincoln's close relationship with Joshua Fry Speed a Springfield, Illinois merchant who met Lincoln in 1837 one of Publishers Weekly’s top five independently published middle grade and young adult books of 2018. Currently Wind is Director of Marketing and Programming at the Independent Book Publishers Association and the official blogger for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Lee’s passion is writing stories to empower LGBTQ youth and their allies. Lee Wind lives in Los Angeles with his husband and their teenage daughter. “No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves” is available everywhere books are sold.     

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Monday, April 5, 2021

Ondi Timoner Talks Mapplethorpe Director's Cut (AUDIO)


 

 

 

 

 

 

In this exclusive audio interview Emmy Winner Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with filmmaker Ondi Timoner about the recently released “Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut” featuring an all-new soundtrack, previously unseen footage and also addresses Robert Mapplethorpe’s important relationship with Patti Smith and his subsequent pivotal romance with powerhouse art collector Sam Wagstaff. The film stars Matt Smith in the title role, best known as Prince Philip in the Netflix series “The Crown.” The stellar cast includes Marianne Rendón as Patti Smith and John Benjamin Hickey as Sam Wagstaff. LGBTQ icon and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most important and controversial artists of the 20th Century living his life boldly and authentically until his untimely death 1989 at age of 42 due to complications from HIV/AIDS. Mapplethorpe’s most controversial works documented and examined the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His historic and provocative 1989 exhibition entitled “Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment” generated controversy and even sparked a Congressional debate when Senator Jesse Helms introduced legislation that attempted to stop the National Endowment for the Arts from funding artwork he considered “obscene.” Though Helms’ extreme measures did not pass, a compromise was reached in Congress placing restrictions on NEA funding procedures that’s still in effect today. “Mapplethorpe, The Director’s Cut” also includes restored scenes depicting Mapplethorpe’s childhood love of photography, his embattled relationship with his father and his lingering ambivalent connection to the Catholic faith. We talked to Ondi about her inspiration for creating “Mapplethorpe, The Director's Cut” and her spin on our LGBTQ issues. 

Ondi Timoner is one of the most outstanding talents in non-fiction filmmaking. She often takes on the stories of visionaries fighting against all odds with a gripping and unique mixed-media, narrative style. Ondi wrote, directed, produced and edited “Mapplethorpe” that won an Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by Samuel Goldwyn in 2018. “Mapplethorpe, The Director’s Cut” is now available on Hulu, Amazon and various digital platforms. Currently she’s putting the finishing touches on a new screenplay “A Stroke of Genius” about the life and career of her late father Eli Timoner who in 1971 founded Air Florida an airline that saw remarkable rapid growth both at the time of its inception and afterwards before suffering a stroke and living the next forty years as a hemiplegic. Timoner is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the DGA, the PGA, the International Documentary Association, Film Fatales and Women in Film. 

  

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