Diversity Rules Magazine

That's a quote from the classic song "Dancing In The Street" by Martha & the Vandellas. School is about to end, and it's me for me to relax, enjoy the sum- mer weather and have some fun. When I say "Good- bye" to my students on June 20th, I wish them all the best, have a nice summer, and good luck next year. (By the way, June 21st will be an All-DAY beach day; I won't even answer my phone.) Last year, at the end of the school year, I gave all my readers a "Suggested Reading List." Guess what --- it's me again to give you another list of books to read as your kick your feet up and enjoy the sum- mer. Whether you're on the beach, by the pool, in a hammock, or on the couch in an air-condi oned home. Four books (three fic on; one non-fic on), all LGBT- themed, which I feel should be read. My first selec on is a book from 2020 – SWIMMING IN THE DARK, by Tomasz Jed- rowski. (NOTE: I am cur- rently reading this book, so the ending is unknown at the me of wri ng.) Set in Poland in the 1980s, this is the story of 2 men – Lud- wik and Janusz – who meet at a summer agricultural camp and are quickly a racted to one another. Their a rac on leads to an elicit affair un l they return to Warsaw when their illegal rela onship is torn apart, fur- ther torn by their differences in poli cal beliefs. (That's all I can say for now.) The second book was writ- ten by a personal friend, San Irvin, en tled I WAS A TEEN- AGER MONSTER HUNTER! Sam looks back at his life, from star ng his magazine (BIZARRE) as a teenager to the 1970s when he started in the business as an as- sistant to Brian De Palma on The Fury and Dressed To Kill, to today, when as a successful director of over 50 films and TV shows. And you'll love hearing all about his interviews and encounters with legends like Vin- cent Price, Christopher Lee, Donald Pleasence, Diana Rigg, John Carradine, Jane Seymour, Alec Guinness, and a plethora of others. And if your pop culture in- terest isn't piqued yet, the forward is wri en by his good friend Cassandra Peterson, aka Elvira, the mis- tress of the Dark. My third book is a classic novel, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger (my favorite classic novel). This story is told by Holden Caulfield (1st per- son) during the period of one week- end (Saturday a ernoon to Monday a ernoon). Holden has been ex- pelled from his school and he travels to New York City, and the adventure of his life begins. Warning: expect to find some "bad words" in the book. If you can get past all the "GD" in the book, you'll enjoy the novel. My last selec on is the autobiography from an- other personal friend who sadly passed away last year – MAYOTTE: THE MUSINGS OF A NARCIS- SIST, by former gay porn actor Shawn Mayo e. Released in 2020, Shawn discusses his self-pro- claimed tle of a "Nar- cissist," and his journey throughout his life. Noth- ing is off the table for dis- cussion in this very raw and open book: his ex- crucia ng rela onship with his parents (they were both messed up), living in the "system" during his teenage years, surviving as a porn Summer - Con't on page 19 Diversity Rules Magazine | June 2023 | 7 Summer's' Here and the Time is Right ... For Dancing In the Street! - Part 2 By Tony Guadagnino

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