When I joined St. Louis’ flat-track roller derby team in 2016, one of the first things I was told was, “Nobody joins roller derby if they have a perfectly happy life. Usually, they’re dealing with some shit.” That was certainly the case for me. I was 22, newly enrolled in graduate school at Washington University…
Books
Chris Andoe is Ready to Talk
Chris Andoe learned to tell stories in his grandmother’s backyard on the north side of Tulsa, Okla. “I’m from a family of storytellers,” he says. At 46, he’s a current St. Louis Magazine contributor, former editor of Out in STL and the author of the recently released “House of Villadiva,” a book that straddles multiple…
Alex Zivic’s Collection of Poems Takes on the Dark–and the Light
Alex Zivic has packed a lot into his slim volume of poetry, Ellipsism. The evocative and often spare poems cover loss, longing, visions and perceptions, with darkly lush illustrations by artist Wafalo. Zivic, 25, spent about two years working on the book, writing in a Moleskine notebook or the Notes app on his phone. Sometimes…
Free to Be You and Me
In the early days of Shameless Grounds, there was confusion. Michelle Mueller, who co-founded the business with her husband Andrew in 2011, recalls that people were often puzzled over what exactly makes a café sex-positive. “I think some people expected we were going to make them eat on the floor, or wear a collar or…
Mid-20th Century LGBTQ History Revealed in Newly Released Tell-All Memoir — ‘Farm Boy, City Girl: From Gene to Miss Gina’
ST. LOUIS, May 27, 2020 – MiRiona Publishing and author John “Gene” E. Dawson recently announced the official release of his historic memoir, “Farm Boy, City Girl: From Gene to Miss Gina.” The book details Gene’s life growing up in Depression-era Iowa in a poor farming Irish-Catholic family and his adult years spent living on…
Author & Professor Patrick Dilley to Present from Acclaimed New Book at Prime Timers This Saturday
Patrick Dilley, Professor of Higher Education and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, will be presenting from his newly published book at this month’s Prime Timers St. Louis organizational meeting, Saturday, August 10, 2019. Gay Liberation to Campus Assimilation: Early Non-Heterosexual Student Organizing at Midwestern Universities, was published in February by…
True Tales of Transgender Aging
Too often, the narrative on transgender people is simplistic: it either focuses on the very real tragedies of bigotry and hate-based violence, or it is entirely youth-focused. But there’s a whole cohort of trans people who are facing another obstacle, one that comes for everyone eventually: age. Photographer Jess T. Dugan and her partner, professor…
Coming of Age in Popular Culture: For Author Donald Miller, It’s Academic
With several LGBT plays under his belt, Donald Miller felt confident that he could tackle writing a media focused textbook due to his love of all things pop culture and his master’s degree in media communications from Webster University. The task proved far more daunting and time consuming than he could’ve ever imagined. Even with…