Thank goodness for Armistead Maupin.
The San Francisco-based author, who turns 76 today, made his career writing a column about life in the city for The San Francisco Chronicle. That column, Tales of the City served as the basis for one of the seminal sagas of queer life in the 20th century.
Maupin grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and served in the US Navy before he decided to pursue a career in writing. He moved to San Francisco in 1971 and began penning Tales of the City three years later.
Related: How Armistead Maupin created a whole new and wonderful vision of gay life
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Tales of the City won praise for its groundbreaking portrayal of life in San Francisco, with an emphasis on LGBTQ characters. The earliest of Maupin’s newspaper installments he later collected into novels, which also furthered the popularity of the series. In all, Maupin would pen nine novels in the Tales series, the first three of which would also be adapted into popular miniseries beginning in 1993. Netflix released a follow-up series in 2019, which integrated original material and characters as well as plot points from Maupin’s novels.
Maupin never hid his sexuality throughout his career, involving himself in activism beginning in the 1970s. That work continued throughout the AIDS crisis, and into the era of marriage equality.
At 76, Maupin has yet to retire, so we can only hope for more original work from his writing desk. His Tales of the City portrays queer life as something of a utopia, which gives us both a fantasy to indulge in, and a reality to strive toward.
Related: Amistead Maupin reveals which deeply closeted movie star he had awkward sex with
Aires the Ram
I loved the ‘Tales of the City’ books. I’ve read every one of them.
Cam
Happy Birthday, and thank you for being out from the beginning! LGBT people need as many books and movies about us as possible out there, so thanks again!
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chase_boston
Thank goodness for Armistead Maupin.
rocknstan
Armistead is a national treasure.
Unfortunately, for every maverick like him, there are still scores of gays who are afraid that their identities might not be good for bidness.
BTW, the current Netflix incarnation of the series needs a mercy killing.
winemaker
Yay, all right, happy birthday to Armistad Maupin. And i was lamenting my upcoming birthday on the 19th, And the great thing i surely don’t look my age. I’ve had guys ask my age and when i tell ’em they’re floored and can’t believe it. Taking care of myself, eating tight and going to the gym ( at least up till March 16th shutdown) pays big dividends. Also a nice non pretentious, friendly personality, genuine smile and a big UNCUT dick and a nice physique helps move things along nicely. Too many guys ignore men in their 40’s and 50’s and miss out on some good life’s lessons as well as good sex.
kevininbuffalo
So nice of you to pull yourself away from the mirror long enough to wish Armistead a happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday Armistead!
Toofie
LOL kevininbuffalo!