June is Pride Month. Leelah Alcorn just wanted to be happy. At 14, Leelah came out to her parent as transgender. Doug and Carla Alcorn, devout followers of the Church of Christ, were mortified. They refused to accept Leelah’s identity. Leelah pressed and stood firm, despite her parent’s denial. At 16, instead of supporting Leelah’s …
June is Pride Month. How could you not love Leslie Jordan? He was a versatile actor, singer, writer, comedian… a jack of all trades. In reality, Leslie Jordan essentially portrayed one character and that character was Leslie Jordan. As an actor, he made guest appearances in a number of television series, stealing every scene with …
June is Pride Month. Arizona-born Sue Hardesty began her budding writing career as an editor, refining books for other authors. She collaborated on her first book, a collection of recipes, punctuated by commentary on gender roles and identity, entitled The Butch Cook Book. The book was likened to the old-fashioned church-issued cookbooks, but for a …
When teenage Anna Mae Bullock was picking cotton and cleaning the houses of rich, white families in Nutbush, Tennessee, did she ever imagine that her life would end as a Swiss citizen, having won twelve Grammy Awards and enjoyed success as a singer, actress, author and internationally-known and beloved public figure?
12-year old Bud Brisbois picked up a trumpet and his life was never the same. Mostly self-taught, he headed to Los Angeles after a brief enrollment at the University of Minnesota. Bud bounced around the LA music scene until he joined Stan Kenton’s band as lead trumpet player. He recorded ten albums as a part …
In 1982, Fun Boy Three released their first of two albums. Formed from the remnants of the breakup of pioneering British ska band The Specials, Fun Boy Three brought together Neville Staple, Lynval Golding and Terry Hall for a fleeting bit of fame. With a little help from girl group du jour Bananarama, recorded and …
Ann Prentiss, the younger sister of actress Paula Prentiss, had a pretty good career in front of the camera, She was featured in a number of small roles on some of the most popular TV series on the 60s and 70s. Adept at both comedy and drama, Ann appeared in episodes of Mannix, Hogan’s Heroes, …
As a psychology major at Yale University, Bruce Geller discovered his real calling — theater. He started his career writing scripts for shows on the fledgling DuMont Television Network in the early 1950s. He also tried his hand at writing librettos for several musicals, none of which were successful. Looking for better opportunities, he left his …
In 1955, Carolyn Bryant made up a story that resulted in a 14 year-old young man being brutally beaten and lynched. She died on April 25, 2023. She hung on to her made-up story for sixty-eight years. With no remorse.
Shortly after the 1938 annexation of Austria by the Nazis, Herbert Zipper and two of his brothers were sent to Dachau concentration camp. Despite the horribly adverse conditions, Herbert volunteered for demeaning jobs, where he could steal wood and other materials to make musical instruments for himself and his fellow prisoners. He assembled a small, …
