City of Night

I'm very grateful to Michael North for sharing these photos related to John Rechy's City of Night, which we'll be discussing next Wednesday, May 1. Michael comments: "At the Library of Congress, I looked up our first edition of City of Night, which has its original dust jacket. I thought the portrait of the 'youngman' John Rechy on the back and some of the descriptions might be of interest. ... They add some interesting color and context to its publication." That they do, Michael--thanks!  

Honoring Lilli Vincenz

On April 17, 1969, the Mattachine Society of Washington held its first picket outside the White House. Today, on the 59th anniversary, the Rainbow History Project will re-enact the picket in honor of Dr. Lilli Vincenz, one of the organizers of the original demonstration (alongside Frank Kameny), who passed away last year at the age of 85. The event will take place on the White House sidewalk in Lafayette Park from 4:20-5:20 p.m., with RHP members carrying replicas of the 1969 signs and handing out literature explaining the purpose (both of the 1969 protest and the re-enactment). Paul Kuntzler, the last surviving participant of the original picket, will participate, carrying a replica of his original poster.

Serendipitously, tonight Bookmen will be discussing the second half of Eric Cervini's The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America, whose Chapter 12 ("The Picket") is full of details about Dr. Vincenz and the White House demonstration. (We read the first half back in January.) 

"Having a Coke with You"

In the latest installment in the New York Times' "Close Read" series, critic A.O. Scott explores Frank O'Hara's poem, "Having a Coke with You." As he point out, it is one of some 50 poems inspired by Vincent Warren, a dancer O'Hara met in 1959, during their nearly two-year love affair. Scott works into his commentary comparisons to Shakespeare, Walt Whitman and Rembrandt, to name just a few writers and artists, but my favorite part comes at the very end:

O'Hara "was just 40 when he died, in July 1966, after being hit by a jeep on Fire Island. You can't really have a Coke with him. Except that, somehow, you can, which is why I'm telling you about it."