Who's Yer Daddy? Gay Writers Celebrate Their Mentors and Forerunners edited by Jim Elledge and David Groff; Terrace Books, $26.95
Who has been your greatest influence? That is the question at the heart of editors Jim Elledge and David Groff's Who's Yer Daddy?, a new anthology of memories from 39 gay authors on how their mentors reshaped and ultimately redefined who they've become. Both editors are distinguished poets and authors (Elledge is an English professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia), and their book is actually an expansion of a surprisingly over-attended literary panel discussion moderated by Elledge at a writers' conference held in 2009. Four initial essays sprouted wings and grew to the nearly 40 offered in this book.
Many of these writers attribute influences from a vast gallery of iconic authors, of course. Esteemed poet Mark Doty credits Walt Whitman for his personal awakening by way of the author's "remarkable affirmations of the flesh and of sexuality and even of same-sex love." Author Dale Peck thanks Shirley Jackson (author of the classic The Lottery ) for her contagious complexity and for capitalizing on "the dark side of the imagination." K.M. Soehnlein, Richard McCann and Jeff Mann appreciatively (and quite movingly) nod toward their own fathers as forerunners who greatly influenced the creative and talented men they've become. The curious eccentricities of artist Henry Darger put the spin on editor Elledge's early observation of the artist's "little girls with penises." Rigoberto Gonzalez credits John Rechy, Michael Nava, and four others with the development of his sexuality and his identity as a Latino gay man. Thomas Glave's eloquent gesture to a group of popular authors like Nadine Gordimer and James Baldwin is nothing short of brilliant and one of the true standouts in the collection.
But there are those for whom entertainers like Boy George and "Captain Kirk" were the driving forces behind their creativity, drive, and lifelong resolve. Still others write of more personal references: a melodramatic best friend whose life was cut short by AIDS, or even a verbally abusive grandmother.
There are pages of great material included in this lively confessional, and the many iconic literary figures referenced throughout remind us of the great powers that have come before us, armed with the ability to mold who we are today, and of our own precious (and often untapped) potential to affect the outcome of those who are just beginning their own journeys into the vast and limitless unknown.