Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS

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Description

Meticulously researched and evocatively told, Hold Tight Gently is historian Martin Duberman's poignant memorial to those lost to AIDS and to two of the great unsung heroes of the early years of the epidemic. Composer Michael Callen became a leading figure in the movement to increase awareness of AIDS in the face of wilful neglect. Essex Hemphill contributed to the black gay and lesbian flowering in Washington, D.C., with poetry of searing intensity and introspection. A profound exploration of the intersection of race, sexuality, class, identity and politics.

Reviews

Winner of a Lambda Literary Award
Honor Book at the 2015 Stonewall Book Awards
Finalist for the Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction
One of NPRs Guide to 2014s Great Reads

"A meticulously researched, nuanced, empathic and insightful portrait of two important artistic and political figures."
San Francisco Chronicle

"A powerful book that displays both the malice and the nobility of our species."
Kirkus Reviews

"InsightfulA vivid, complex snapshot."
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An important and, unfortunately, still timely book."
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Author Bio

Martin Duberman is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the CUNY Graduate Center, where he founded and for a decade directed the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. The author of more than twenty books, Duberman has won a Bancroft Prize and been a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in New York City.