Stuart Timmons | |
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.jpg) Timmons during his West Hollywood History Tour 2015 | |
| Born | (1957-01-14)January 14, 1957 Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | January 28, 2017(2017-01-28) (aged 60) Hollywood,California, U.S. |
| Occupation | writer, historian |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Short stories,non-fiction,history |
| Subject | LGBT history |
| Notable works | The Trouble With Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement;Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians |
| Notable awards | Lambda Literary Award for Arts & Culture, Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Nonfiction |
| Website | |
| stuarttimmons | |
Stuart Timmons (January 14, 1957 – January 28, 2017) was an Americanjournalist, activist,historian, and award-winning author specializing inLGBT history based inLos Angeles, California. He was the author ofThe Trouble WithHarry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement and the co-author ofGay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians withLillian Faderman.
Timmons was born on January 14, 1957, in Cottagewood Hospital inMinneapolis,Minnesota.[1][2] He has two sisters, Gay and Emily Timmons, both in the SF Bay Area.[3] While he was still a toddler, his family moved to Santa Barbara due to his father getting a new job.[1]
Timmons received his Bachelor of Arts in film from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[2] While he was a student at UCLA, he co-founded the gay festival on campus with John Ramirez in 1979; it later became known asOutfest.[4]
Through his career Timmons wrote and edited for magazines, documentary films and non-fiction literature. While at UCLA, where he majored in film, his work as an activist impressed Mark Thompson, who was then the senior editor ofThe Advocate, a national gay and lesbian news magazine. Thompson hired Timmons as a journalist for the magazine.[5]
Timmons was the author ofThe Trouble With Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement, published in 1990.[2][5] With lesbian historianLillian Faderman, he co-authoredGay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, And Lipstick Lesbians, published in 2006.[2][5] It chronicles the history of gays and lesbians in Los Angeles since the late 1700s.[3]
Timmons served as the executive director of theONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives and served on its board of directors. In 2007, he began developing walking tours of LGBTQ historic sites in Los Angeles. He finished tours ofDowntown Los Angeles andSilver Lake, Los Angeles, but experienced a severe cerebellarstroke in January 2008 before he could complete his West Hollywood edition.[1]
With a grant from the City ofWest Hollywood, Los Angeles-based performance artist Jason Jenn helped Timmons complete and produce the City of West Hollywood LGBTQ History Tour in celebration of the city's 30th Anniversary in 2015. The walking tour was also adapted into a self-guided mobile app. The walking tour included live performances of historical information including the talents of comedianKristina Wong,[6] and Justin Sayer (a writer for2 Broke Girls and stand-up comedian).[7] He was a co-organizer of the dedication of the Mattachine Steps inSilver Lake named for the Mattachine Society on April 7, 2012, alongside Mark Thompson, Wes Joe, Mitch O'Farrell, andEric Garcetti (then a councilor and later mayor of Los Angeles).[1]
Timmons received a nomination for gay non-fiction from theAmerican Library Association for his first book in 1990.[8] For his book with Faderman, he received the Monette-Horwitz Award for LGBT Scholarship,[9] the Lambda Literary Award, LGBT Non-Fiction[10] and the Lambda Literary Award, LGBT Arts and Culture in 2007.[10]
Timmons was openly gay.[11][12] He suffered astroke in 2008 which greatly diminished his cognitive function.[5] Timmons died on January 28, 2017, at the Serrano North Convalescent Hospital inHollywood,California, fromcardiac arrest, at the age of 60.[1][2][13] An intimate memorial was held atONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.[14]
Gay men who, like me, have been aware of him for years, shower [Harry] Hay with these earnest introductions.
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