William Johnson

Acclaimed cartoonist Howard Cruse, 75, has died. Cruse died on November 26, 2019, due to cancer. He is survived by his husband Eddie Sedarbaum and his daughter Kimberly Kolze Venter. Born in Springfield, Alabama in 1944, Cruse was an avid fan of newspaper cartoons. He spent his adolescence constantly doodling, in an effort to reproduce the magic he found in his favorite “funny papers.” He attended Birmingham-Southern College in the 1960s, where he studied drama. His time studying the theater arts never hampered his desire to draw cartoons. Throughout college, he created humorous illustrations for both his school newspaper and several noted […]

What are the best ways to navigate feelings of debilitating shame? Providing ferociously, self-reflective takes on their uneasy relationship with fame, family, drug use, and romantic partnerships, Nico Tortorella’s new memoir Space Between unpacks personal stigma, all in the hopes of dispelling it, both for themselves and others in the LGTBQIA+ community. With a striking frankness, the book details Tortorella’s unconventional marriage, complex romantic relationships, and their journey towards living a life outside the gender binary. A noted performer on the TV show Younger and the lead in a forthcoming Walking Dead spin-off, Tortorella is also a staunch advocate on issues pertaining to multidimensional desire and sexual […]

Last year, renowned gay publisher and editor Don Weise, along with philanthropist Chuck Forester, launched Querelle, a small press focused on publishing new LGBT titles. Querelle was launched with the hope of establishing a press that cultivates a more personal connection between writers and the publisher’s editors, as well as opening up new opportunities for authors seeking to self-publish their work. Weise took some time to talk with Lambda Literary Review about this new endeavor and what he is hoping to accomplish with the press. What was the impetus in creating Querelle? I transferred ownership of the name Magnus over to […]