Diversity Rules Magazine

3 Diversity Rules Magazine March 2015 Originally from upstate New York, David studied drama at Syracuse University and lived in NYC for 10 years pursuing a life in the theater. He appeared in numerous off-off-Broadway productions, includ- ing the award-winning Solo for Two at the Direct eatre. He studied with Jerzy Grotowki's Teatre Laboratorium in Poland, and made his off-Broad- way debut in e Passion of Dracula at the Cherry Lane eatre in 1979. His final NYC role was an ev- er-so-brief appearance in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, which all too accurately portrayed his last years in the East Village. David moved/fled from New Amsterdam to Old Am- sterdam in May 1985. Unexpectedly, his theatrical aspirations took off again, and he worked as both actor and director for several small English-speaking companies. He got a 'day job' (involving many night- shifts) as a newsreader for Radio Netherlands, the Dutch International Service. He began reporting for various programs, and within a few years was work- ing full-time as a culture and documentary writer/ producer. His series Aural Tapestry was chosen as one of the Ten Best Shows on World Band Radio in 2003. He won numerous awards at festivals in New York, Croatia and China, as well as from the Na- tional Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. During this time David also co-hosted Alien, a live local LGBT radio show, and wrote for Amsterdam's first gay weekly Trash in the Streets. During the 1998 Gay Games he reported for its newspaper e Daily Friendship. Keeping his oar in LGBT activist waters, he currently edits English material for the Dutch website of Pride Photo Award. Calvin's Head coverSince retirement from radio in 2010, he has written his first novel Calvin's Head, a psychological thriller set in Amsterdam, published by Bold Strokes Books in September 2014. Life in Amsterdam isn't all windmills and tulips when you're homeless. Jason Dekker lives in a jeep with his dog, Calvin, on the outskirts of the city. A thesis on Van Gogh brought him to the Netherlands and the love of Dutch artist Willy Hart convinced him to stay. But Willy is gone and Dekker is on the brink of a total meltdown. On a summer morning in the park, Calvin sniffs out the victim of a grisly murder. Dekker sees the opportu- nity for a risky strategy that might solve their problems. Unfortunately, it puts them directly in the sights of the calculating stone-cold killer Gadget. eir paths are destined to collide, but nothing goes according to plan when they end up together in an attic sex-dungeon. Identities shift and events careen out of control, much to the bewilderment of one ever-watchful canine. Oscar Wilde wrote that each man kills the thing he loves. He didn't mean it literally. Or did he? Calvin's Head A Book By David Swatling

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