Secret historian : the life and times of Samuel Steward, professor, tattoo artist, and sexual renegade / Justin Spring.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spring, Justin, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Steward, Samuel M.

Authors, American--20th century--Biography.

Authors, American.

Pornography.

History.

Sexology--Research.

Tattoo artists.

College teachers.

Gay authors.

United States.

New York (State)--New York.

Illinois--Chicago.

Poets, American--20th century--Biography.

Poets, American.

Novelists, American--20th century--Biography.

Novelists, American.

Gay authors--United States--Biography.

College teachers--Illinois--Chicago--Biography.

Tattoo artists--New York (State)--New York--Biography.

Sexology--Research--United States--History--20th century.

Sexology.

Pornography--United States--History--20th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Biography.

Physical Description:

xv, 478 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

Summary:

Drawn from the secret diaries and journals of novelist, poet, and university professor Samuel M. Steward, this is a reconstruction of one of the more extraordinary hidden lives of the twentieth century. An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Thornton Wilder, Steward maintained a secret sex life from childhood on, documenting his experiences in vivid (and often very funny) detail. After leaving academe to become tattoo artist Phil Sparrow, Steward worked closely with Alfred Kinsey on his landmark sex research. During the early 1960s, Steward changed his identity once again, this time to write exceptionally literate, upbeat homosexual pornography as Phil Andros. An archive of his papers, lost since his death in 1993, has provided biographer Justin Spring with the material for an illuminating life-and-times biography. More than merely the story of one remarkable man, this is a moving portrait of gay life long before gay liberation.--From publisher description.

Contents:

"Wild

hog wild"

Teres atque rotundus

The Chicago novel

"The navy has always had an attraction for me"

Sobriety and after

Kinsey and company

Living in dreams

Writing lynes

"A kind of obscene diary, actually"

"Mr. Chips of the tattoo world"

The Kothmann affair

The parting

"Pleasure doesn't really make one happy"

Kris and Kreis

"Payments to hustlers"

Masters and slaves

Phil Andros, $STUD

A new life in Oakland

"From the brow to Zeus"

Dear Sammy

"Porte after stormie seas"

Afterword: The Steward papers.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

National Book Award Finalist, 2010

Lambda Literary Awards - Gay Memoir/Biography, Winner, 2011

Other Format:

Online version: Spring, Justin, 1962- Secret historian.

ISBN:

9780374281342

0374281343

OCLC:

459210127

Publisher Number:

99938610089

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description