Subject: gay widowers book
From: MShernoff <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 13:32:38 EST

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

GAY WIDOWERS
LIFE AFTER THE DEATH OF A PARTNER
Michael Shernoff, MSW, Editor
Foreword by Felice Picano
Published by Haworth Press ($14.95 softcover)

If you are a recent widower and feeling isolated, this book will help you 
realize that you are not alone!

By bringing forth these stories, Gay Widowers offers bereaved gay men 
and mental health professionals--in a society where the mourning process is 
generally a heterosexual construct--a clinical and social overview of the
dynamic issues relevant, and perhaps unique to the mourning process of 
gay men

Pre-publication Reviews, Commentaries and Evaluations....

"This inspiring book is not only for those who have experienced the tragedy 
of losing a partner-it is for every gay man who loves another."  
-Michelangelo Signorile, Author, Life Outside

"The depth of the attachments described in this book is exceeded only by 
the hunger for life and love that prompts these widowers to move on and 
become involved in an intimate partnership again."
-Betty Berzon, PhD, Author: Positively Gay, Permanent Partners, and The 
Intimacy Dance

"It's all in this book-rage, grief, sex, hope, disorientation, resignation
and even humor. A FASCINATING AND DEEPLY MOVING BOOK that illustrates
the diverse paths forged by surviving lovers as they move beyond despair and
create new lives which offer sustenance and comfort."
-Eric Rofes, Author: Reviving the Tribe: Regenerating Gay men's Sexuality
and Culture in the ongoing Epidemic

"These gut wrenching and ultimately inspiring first-hand accounts by men 
who buried a lover provide a road map through the social wilderness of gay
grief and beyond. Shernoff once again charts new clinical territory."
-Rodger McFarlane, former Executive Director of Gay Men's Health Crisis, 
NYC

"...Taken separately, these memoirs overflow with homespun eloquence and 
wisdom. Together, they weave into something larger--a powerful mosaic 
reflecting the diversity and breadth of our communal loss, and the depth of 
our resilience."
-Steven Schwartzberg, PhD Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology, Dept.
Of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

"...A landmark collection--ostensibly about a very depressing subject--that
leads us to a place of joyful transcendence through the same simple process
that writing at its best has always utilized--telling the truth, in all its 
messiness, of where we've been, how much it has hurt, of the mistakes 
we've made, of the love we've known."
- Lawrence D. Mass, Co-founder Gay Men's Health Crisis, NYC, Author: 
Confessions of a Jewish Wagnerite: Being Gay and Jewish in America; 
Editor Dialogues of the Sexual Revolution, Volumes ! And II, and of We 
Must Love One Another or Die: The Life and Legacies of Larry Kramer

"Making use of firsthand narratives, the book presents very private views
of the raw emotions of gay men who have lived through the loss of their 
partners."
- Robert H. Remien, PhD, Clinical Psychologist/research scientist, The HIV
Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the New York State Psychiatric
Institute and Columbia University

"Provides a human voice to gay widowers who survive a partner's death and
 a wealth of information--practical, personal, and compassionate--on the 
complex journey of the grief of gay men, A requirement for gay widowers, 
service providers and mental health professionals."
- Barbara Dane, PhD, Associate Professor, Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School of
 Social Work, New York University

"Anyone who has faced what Shernoff calls 'the yawning gulf of their grief'
must read this book, which actually transcends the AIDS epidemic without
disavowing it...Makes an important contribution not just to gay sociology
ogy, but gay literature, and needs to be part of every thoughtful person's
library."
-Douglas, Sadownick, Author: Sex Between Men: An Intimate History of the 
Sex Live of Gay Men, Postwar ro Present and Sacred Lips of the Bronx

"Anniversary phenomena, firsts--birthdays, holidays, vacations, dates, kisses,
sex, and the first love relationship after the death--all other firsts
that affirm the fact of widowerhood are sensitively articulated and portrayed.
Gay widowers confronting the issues connected with losing a lover-
spouse will find companionship in this book and hopefully get some 
comfort in the knowledge that others are walking with them."
-Martha A. Gabriel, PhD, Associate Professor, Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School
of Social Work, New York University, Author: AIDS Trauma and Support Group
Therapy

"Don't read this book if you're looking for the usual cliches about grief
.  Read it if you want to see into the souls of men facing the worst 
experiences of their lives. Read it if you want to understand the real 
meaning of love and loss--the sorrow, the disorientation, the rage, the 
rebuilding of life--Has value for everyone capable of loving deeply, 
regardless of sexual orientation.  This book will break your heart and 
help it heal."
-Arnie Kantrowitz, Associate Professor of English, College of Staten 
Island, City University of New York, Author: Under the Rainbow: 
Growing up Gay

Table of Contents

Foreword 
Felice Picano
Introduction 
Michael Shernoff
Surviving a Partner's Death Deeply in the Closet 
George Seabold
Do You Have a Partner?                                                   
                              
Michael Shernoff
Postcard From Grief 
Craig Lucas
Excerpts from a Diary 
Stephen Greco
No Return 
Winston Wilde
Tracing Time 
Townsand Price-Spratlen
The Merry Widower 
Ron Najman
A Dream Is More Than A Wish Your Heart Makes 
Jon  L. Clayborne
Trading Places: A Hillside Chat with Don Bachardy 
Eric Gutierrrez
Leaving Jim Behind 
John Longres
I'm Not Done Yet
Phill Wilson
Conclusion: Mental Health Considerations of Gay Widowers
Michael Shernoff

You can either purchase the book in your local book store or order 
directly from the publisher by calling 1-800-HAWORTH.

Key Words: gay men, homosexuality, widowers, grief, loss, mourning, 
relationships, love