1981. Rich with promise and possibility, the post-Stonewall era saw queer Americans standing up for themselves and each other like never before. With the rise of gay newspapers, bars, clubs, and businesses in cities all over the US, it was a time of hedonism, activism, pride, and community. A scene ripe for exploration and documentation, and journalist JD Doyle hit the road to do just that, traveling through 27 states to create a playful, intimate, profusely illustrated, one-of-a-kind record of gay life, love, lust, and liberation in the heady days before the devastating crisis that would change everything.
This is the trip he took.
The premier release to emerge from the partnership of QMH Press and New Texture, JD Doyle's eagerly awaited memoir and travelogue, 1981—My Gay American Road Trip, is now available in full color, fully illustrated hardcover and trade softcover editions. Get it from Amazon HERE.
We are pleased and deeply proud to ring in Pride Month with the announcement of a civil partnership between JD Doyle's newly minted QMH Press and New Texture for the release of JD's first book, 1981—My Gay American Road Trip. The book will be the imprints' first joint release, appearing in hardcover and softcover editions from QMH and NT later this month.
JD Doyle, an American LGBT music/history archivist and radio producer, was formerly Editor of Our Own Community Press, a gay newspaper based out of Norfolk, Virginia. Doyle later produced the radio programs Queer Music Heritage on the station KPFT, and OutRadio, heard online. His currently active works include the Texas Obituary Project and the Houston LGBT History website, all part of his 501(c)(3) non-profit, the JD Doyle Archives. Those archives also contain one of the largest collections of queer music in the country. In 2019, the United States Library of Congress selected the archives for digital inclusion in their collection of LGBT history.
Doyle believes that history exists to be shared, not hoarded, and strives to make his collection accessible to all.
His work has been honored by numerous awards, such as the Legacy Award from the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce (2023); Trailblazer Award from Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (2021); a Proclamation from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner during LGBT History Month (October 2022) naming it “JD Doyle Day;” from the Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus, given the Lifetime Achievement Award (2019) and Kristen Capps Social Conscience Award (2021); Legacy Community Health Mint Julep Award (2023); Male Grand Marshal for the 2014 Houston Pride Parade; and the Alan Bérubé Prize, from the Committee on LGBT History (2012).
“We are delighted to welcome JD and QMH Press to the New Texture family,” said New Texture ringmaster Wyatt Doyle (no relation). “New Texture's dedication to presenting and preserving personal and cultural histories that too often fall under the mainstream radar suggest NT and QMH Press will prove well matched. JD's passionate, engaged, decades-long commitment to queer art and history (and their documentation and preservation), mirrors NT's own efforts to document left-of-the-dial lives, lifestyles, and cultural trends that might otherwise be lost to history.”
JD Doyle added, “After more than twenty years documenting as much online history content as I can, it is a new adventure to release my first book, and this time get a more personal story out into the world—of course bringing our history along with it.”
Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle, co-editors of the Men's Adventure Library series, recently appeared on Terrance Layhew's Suit Up! Podcast to talk about Lawrence Block, The Naked and the Deadly, the rise and fall of men's adventure magazines, and how the sausage is made at the Men's Adventure Library.
The focus and subject matter of mid-century men’s adventure magazines (MAMs) were wide-ranging, and versatile storytellers able to confidently navigate genres, approaches, and authorial voices found regular, lucrative work in their pages. Among those talented writers was a notable newcomer: Lawrence Block—though his initial pieces would see print under various pseudonyms.
Not the Lawrence Block you know, who is among the most widely read, respected, and celebrated writers of crime and mystery fiction in the world. Internationally read and internationally honored, upon whom The Mystery Writers of America bestowed the title of Grand Master. A storyteller with over 65 years of professional experience in damn near every mode of written expression, whose essays, magazine columns, and non-fiction books focused on the art, craft, and business of writing have endured to inform generations.
Not that Lawrence Block.
Not yet…
The Men's Adventure Library announces the release of one of the most anticipated books in the series: The Naked and the Deadly: Lawrence Block in Men's Adventure Magazines. Collecting Block's early work for MAMs, with stories ranging from dramatic non-fiction to hard-boiled crime, detective stories, and international intrigue, The Naked and the Deadly is at once a look at a legendary writer's earliest work and swift development as well as a representative selection of the types of stories that made MAMs famous -- and infamous.
In this latest release from The Men’s Adventure Library, series editors Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle restore the early work of Lawrence Block for their new collection, reissuing these long lost early stories in their original, unexpurgated versions for the first time since their original publication, and presented with the full cooperation of the Author.
To welcome Block to the Men’s Adventure Library, The Naked and the Deadly will be issued in four distinct, handsome editions:
1. An expanded 396-page, 6” x 9” color hardcover that adds over 60 pages to the contents of the paperback and ebook editions. Includes dozens of supplementary color and monochrome illustrations, further context and background by the Editors, and an entire additional 8,000-word story by Block that is exclusive to the hardcover. Get it here:https://amzn.to/3ORiKBV
2. A 12-story, 444-page, 4.370” x 7.000” collectible mass market paperback edition, created to honor Block’s many successes in paperbacks. Get it here:https://amzn.to/43fdIDy
3. A 12-story ebook, duplicating the contents of the mass market paperback. Get it here:https://amzn.to/3N5U6ev
4. A strictly limited, 200-copy edition of the expanded hardcover that includes a custom bookplate signed by Lawrence Block and the Editors, tipped-in by hand. Available exclusively at www.BlockNaked.com while copies remain. Get it here:www.BlockNaked.com
All editions include a scene-setting preface by the Editors and a brand new introduction written for this collection by Block.
This is the summer to get Naked!
Below is an early review video from Paperback Parade's Gary Lovisithat offers a peek inside both print editions:
Please note:Suggested retail price for George Gross: Coveredin hardcover is $39.95. In softcover, $24.95. If Amazon or any other retailer is charging more than that, we recommend you purchase copies at cover price from Bob Deis at the above link.
Jimmy Angelina takes us back to the years of American werewolves dancing in the streets for soda pop with his latest campaign in support of Be Italian.
Be Italian is available in softcover, deluxe hardcover, and as a bundle with a signed and numbered art print. Get yours (the book, not the soft drink) from www.BeItalianBook.com
Please note:Suggested retail price for George Gross: Coveredin hardcover is $39.95. In softcover, $24.95. If Amazon or any other retailer is charging more than that, we recommend you purchase copies at cover price from Bob Deis at the above link.
