An Evening Of Tales

Dear O'H dear and Lovely Tea Jenny,

Thanks to a top tip from Auslaender, The Eldest Mini Princess and I went to see Armistead Maupin tonight at The Queens Hall.

I read the first 6 books in the Tales of the City series when I was a student and I loved them. I loved the friendships and the ‘logical families’ they created. EMP has started reading them now and feels the same way.

He was very entertaining. He spoke of growing up in a very conservative family in North Carolina and hiding his sexuality until he became a reporter and moved to San Francisco (where he preferred bathhouses to bars).

His stories were mainly lighthearted. And rude. The passage he chose to read from his memoir was about losing his virginity.

During the Q&A, he spoke about the devastation caused by AIDS and how it still affects him. Someone else asked about other changes in his lifetime for gay men but he said he doesn’t want to be someone who says, “In my day, before Grindr, we had to walk 12 miles just to see a c*ck!”

He now lives in London with his husband. Trump was one of the factors in their decision to relocate “but you guys played a sick joke on me. I’ve just swapped one blond ass monkey for another.”

EMP and I queued to have our book signed, although all I managed to say was that I had read his books as a student. Twice.

It was a lovely evening. Both of us thought it could only have been improved if he had asked his “good friend Ian*” along too.

C

*McKellan.