The O-town Scene

Ace Lundon When I was asked if I might write an “article of interest to the LGBT community,”I thought, “This means poetry!” Everyone I’ve ever met has written a poem or maybe more than one. Therefore we are all poets – straight or queer – and therefore poetry should be of interest to the LGBT community. You may note now that I simply call all of us “the queer community.” I’m one of the gay queers. And yes, I have written a poem or two. Granted, most of us poets never become rich and fa- mous probably, but I have to admit that it was poetry that seeded my career as a writer and author. It happened when I was 8 years old and had written a poem about my mother. It sold to a publication, and I received my first pay for writing. I was paid $1; definitely not a rich or famous poet, but it had aroused a passion within me for the written word. I have even adopted three poems as my life poems to live by. They’re sort of like a lot of folks who live by a Bible, I guess. And I’ve got my “Bible” memorized. I memorized my first life poem in the third grade from Miss Carlson _ “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer; my second life poem in the fifth grade from Mrs. Nelson _ “It Couldn’t Be Done” by Edgar Guest; and my third life poem in the eighth grade from Mrs. Sundquist _ “If” by Rudyard Kipling. Memorization of these three poems imposed them to become both a conscious and unconscious part of my life. The first lines of each poem (and a last) all cozied up together: I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree Somebody said that it couldn’t be done, But, he with a chuckle replied That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried. If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; ... you’ll be a Man my son! Lundon is an activist for women’s rights and minority rights. After spending most of his life in the closet, he is now an advocate of gay rights. Lundon has also worked as a syndicated columnist, reporter, movie reviewer and the managing editor of two national publications: Zipper magazine and The Coast To Coast Times, a ho- mophile newspaper with the second largest circulation in the United States in the 1970’s. After losing his soul mate, Patrick John Algarin, to AIDS, Lundon became a board member of the Nevada AIDS Foundation and raised more than $10,000 for a memorial. His first book, an autobiography titled “The Closets Are Empty … The Dining Room’s Full,” was published in 1993. Oct. 21, 2010 O-Town Scene 35 Keep Up Now! Six years ago today, on Oct. 21, 2004, my brother Rob took his life due to HIV and AIDS related complica- tions. He finally reached a point where he knew if he waited much longer, the disease would immobilize him and he wouldn’t have the strength to go through with it. The lesions in his brain were spreading rapidly and were impinging on his capacity to function; he could barely crawl from his bed. He didn’t want to lose his mind; he had come to the last fork in the road. He witnessed loved ones suffer unbearably through the final stages of this disease. He wanted to pass in peace, in love and in gratitude. Our loved ones deserve this, but that’s another subject. During his final weeks, he shared with me his remark- able clarity to truly see. He described it as walking between two worlds; he ob- served all of nature, life and Being as one. His vision widened to reveal true revelation; changing darkness into light. Where he thought he had suffered, he realized he merely forgot who he was. Rob discovered the mean- ing of true love; loving himself to the point where love spilled from him into all he observed, everyone he touched and each particle of life. Finally, the blockages to love’s presence were removed. Through his trials and tribulations, Rob learned the meaning of forgiveness, which set him free, exposing his true nature: Love. Love and fear cannot co- exist, and fear must depart when love has come at last. Rob was not afraid; he was Love. Rob was ready to ac- cept his fate. He knew he was not a body. He was free. Rob left his memoirs with me to share with the world. Below is one of his final entries. “Who would walk first to the light? We lose only the fear of the unknown.This would serve as lessons in letting go. “It’s not taken alone. It differs only in form from the walk we continue through this life and beyond … we take side by side one another with GOD. “And so it continues the Love we have known. One follows the other; and so we return; seeking the lessons from each side we learn; keeping it with us from this world and back home.” – Rob Ludwig Keep Up Now with the stream of higher conscious- ness, and stay connected to the Source! — Terry Ludwig the Diversity Scene Oct.21-27

• Cover