Armistead Maupin

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox writer Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr.<ref name="enotes.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Armistead Jones Maupin, Jr., birth date 13 May 1944, Age 24, Military Date 5 May 1969 U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Reserve Officers, published January 1970, record held in United States Military Registers, 1902–1985. Salem, Oregon: Oregon State Library.</ref><ref>Pronounced "Mawpin' as read in English, rather than rhyming with the French "Gauguin." "Armistead Maupin" is an anagram of 'Is a Man I Dreamt Up.' (Armistead Maupin Is a Man I Dreamt Up Template:Webarchive was the title of a 1990 BBC documentary on him.) However, neither the name nor Maupin himself were actually invented. He recalls: "One person even wrote: 'I know for a fact that you don't exist. You're really a lesbian collective in Marin County.' (Sometimes I feel like a lesbian collective in Marin County, but I'm not.)" See: Template:Cite web.</ref> (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born May 13, 1944)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an American writer notable for Tales of the City, a series of novels set in San Francisco.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Maupin was born in Washington, D.C., to Diana Jane (Barton) and Armistead Jones Maupin.<ref name="enotes.com"/> His great-great-grandfather, Congressman Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, was from North Carolina and was a railroad executive and a Confederate general during the American Civil War.<ref name="logicalfamily17">Template:Cite book</ref> His father, Armistead Jones Maupin, founded Maupin, Taylor & Ellis, one of the largest law firms in North Carolina.<ref name="sfchroniclefathersobit">Template:Cite news</ref> Maupin was raised in Raleigh.<ref name=grow>Template:Cite web – in The Independent of Raleigh, North Carolina, June 1988 – autobiographical memoir</ref>

Maupin attended Ravenscroft School and graduated from Needham Broughton High School in 1962.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he wrote for The Daily Tar Heel.<ref name=kuow>A Conversation with Author Armistead Maupin Template:Webarchive – on KUOW-FM radio, 2007-06-19</ref>

Career

Maupin worked at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, a station managed by future U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. Helms nominated Maupin for a patriotic award, which Maupin won. Maupin said he was a typical conservative and segregationist at this time and admired Helms as a hero figure. Maupin later changed his opinion and condemned Helms at a gay pride parade on the steps of the North Carolina State Capitol.<ref name=grow/><ref name=ny>Template:Cite interview</ref><ref name=kuow/> Maupin is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served several tours of duty including one in the Vietnam War.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Maupin worked at a Charleston newspaper and the San Francisco bureau of the Associated Press in 1971.<ref>Template:Cite web – in Guest Informant, 1998–1999. Maupin recalls his first experiences of San Francisco.</ref><ref>He said he had "no sense of it being a gay mecca" and called it "this amazing city that embraced me, that had made me aware of my true self", and "what really floored me was that the straight folks in San Francisco were so civilised about homosexuality." (in the New York Times interview)</ref> In 1974, he began what would become the Tales of the City series as a serial in a Marin County-based newspaper, the Pacific Sun, moving to the San Francisco Chronicle after the SunTemplate:'s San Francisco edition folded.<ref name=time/>

In 1978, Maupin publicly accused San Francisco Police Inspector Dave Toschi of faking one of the Zodiac Killer's taunting letters to the media, seriously and irreparably damaging Toschi's career and reputation. Maupin claimed to have noticed a similarity between anonymous fan mail Toschi had sent him after Maupin based one of his Tales of the City characters on him, and a Zodiac letter received by the San Francisco Chronicle on April 24, 1978. Although the USPS crime lab cleared Toschi of being the Zodiac letter's author, Toschi admitted to writing the fan mail and was removed from the case, destroying his chances of succeeding Charles Gain as chief of the San Francisco PD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The incident is portrayed in the 2007 David Fincher film Zodiac.

Works

Tales of the City

Template:Main Tales of the City is a series of novels, the first portions of which were published initially as a newspaper serial starting on August 8, 1974, in a Marin County newspaper, The Pacific Sun, picked up in 1976 by the San Francisco Chronicle, and later reworked into the series of books published by HarperCollins (then Harper and Row). The first of Maupin's novels, entitled Tales of the City, was published in 1978. Five more followed in the 1980s, ending with the last book, Sure of You, in 1989.<ref name=time>Template:Cite web</ref>

A seventh novel published in 2007, Michael Tolliver Lives, continues the story of some of the characters. It was followed by an eighth volume, Mary Ann in Autumn, published in 2010 and a ninth volume, The Days of Anna Madrigal, in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Babycakes, published in 1984, Maupin was one of the first writers to address the subject of AIDS.<ref name=EW/> Of the autobiographical nature of the characters, he says "I've always been all of the characters in one way or another."<ref name="pub">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Tales of the City books have been translated into ten languages, and there are more than six million copies in print. Several of the books have been adapted and broadcast on BBC Radio 4.<ref name="BBC Radio 4">Template:Cite web</ref>

Television miniseries

The first three books in the series have also been adapted into three television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney. A co-production with the UK's Channel 4, the first miniseries was on PBS; subsequent miniseries appeared on Showtime.<ref>Template:Cite web TV Guide, January 1994. Article by Maupin about the difficult process of getting the Tales series into TV production.</ref> Dukakis, Linney, and various other cast members from the original series, reunited for the 2019 Tales miniseries on Netflix which was not based directly on one of Maupin's novels but used elements from several, including the latter three.

Musical projects

He collaborated on Anna Madrigal Remembers, a musical work written by Jake Heggie and performed by choir Chanticleer and mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade on August 6, 1999, for which Maupin provided a new libretto. He also participated in a concert series with the Seattle Men's Chorus entitled Tunes From Tales (Music for Mouse), which included readings from his books and music from the era.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2011, a theatrical musical version of Tales of the City had its premiere at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. The musical has a score and lyrics by Jake Shears and John Garden of the rock band Scissor Sisters, and a book by Jeff Whitty. It was directed by Jason Moore.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener

Maupin wrote two novels, Maybe The Moon and The Night Listener, which are not part of Tales.

Maybe The Moon is a story Maupin describes as "partly autobiographical", despite the main character being a female heterosexual Jewish dwarf. The character was also based on his friend Tamara De Treaux, who played the title character in the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.<ref>Template:Cite web – San Francisco Focus Magazine], October 1992. Interview with Maupin about his friendship with Tamara De Treaux.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Night Listener is a roman à clef, inspired by Maupin's experiences concerning the Anthony Godby Johnson hoax.<ref name="out">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Audio interview about The Night Listener Template:Webarchive – on WHYY-FM, October 3, 2000</ref><ref>Template:Cite web – a story featuring the fictional characters in Noone at Night</ref> He says he wanted to create a psychological thriller, while being able to put autobiographical elements in it.<ref name=ny/> The issues he addresses include the ending of his relationship with his long-term partner and his relationship with his father. The book very lightly references the Tales world via Gabriel Noone's assistant, who is one of DeDe Halcyon-Day's twins from Tales. It was serialized on the internet, on Salon.com, prior to its print publication.<ref name=ny/> The Night Listener was adapted into a movie that was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in late January 2006 and released by Miramax the following August.<ref name=out/>

Michael Tolliver Lives

Prior to the 2007 release of Michael Tolliver Lives, Maupin had been quoted on his website as saying that another Tales of the City novel was unlikely.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although Maupin originally stated that this novel was "NOT a sequel to Tales [of the City] and it's certainly not Book 7 in the series,"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he later conceded that "I've stopped denying that this is book seven in Tales of the City, as it clearly is ... I suppose I didn't want people to be thrown by the change in the format, as this is a first person novel unlike the third person format of the Tales of the City books and it's about one character who interrelates with other characters. Having said that, it is still very much a continuation of the saga and I think I realised it was very much time for me to come back to this territory."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The novel is written from the first-person perspective of Tales character Michael 'Mouse' Tolliver, now in his fifties and living as an HIV-positive man.<ref name=ad>"Armistead Maupin talks!" Template:Webarchive – Advocate.com</ref> It also features appearances by familiar Tales characters, such as Anna Madrigal.<ref>"Sex and the city"Template:Dead link – Interview in The Observer</ref> Maupin said: "I was interested in pursuing the life of an aging gay man, and Michael was the perfect vehicle ... However, as soon as I started writing, I found that, one by one, all the other characters stepped forward and asked to be present. It felt natural, so I went with it."<ref name=EW>Template:Cite magazine</ref> He calls it "a smaller, more personal novel than I've written in the past."<ref name=ad/> The book was released on June 12, 2007, which was declared 'Michael Tolliver Day' by the mayor of San Francisco.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>"Reader, he married him"Template:Dead link – Review in The Guardian</ref>

Mary Ann in Autumn was published November 12, 2010 by Harper/HarperCollins, continuing the series. It was reviewed by Joseph Salvatore in the New York Times Sunday Book Reviews on November 14.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was followed in January 2014 by The Days of Anna Madrigal, which Maupin said would be the final novel in the series.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

File:ArmisteadMaupinChristopherTurnerHWOFMay2013.jpg

Maupin (left) with husband Christopher Turner in 2013.

Maupin has stated that he recognized his sexual orientation as gay from a young age,<ref name="ny" /><ref name="kuow" /> although he did not engage in sexual activity until he was 25, and decided to come out in 1974.<ref name="grow" /><ref>Template:Usurped – Interview in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He agreed to be identified as a homosexual in a "Ten Most Eligible Bachelors" article in San Francisco magazine.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web – Michael Tolliver's coming out letter, a response in the book to his parents' participation in Anita Bryant's anti-gay Save Our Children campaign. Maupin used the letter to serve the same purpose for his own parents, who followed the Tales serial.</ref><ref name="EW" /> For 12 years, he was in a relationship with Terry Anderson, a gay rights activist who co-authored the screenplay for The Night Listener. The couple lived together in both San Francisco and New Zealand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After his breakup with Anderson, Maupin married Christopher Turner, a website producer and photographer, whom he met through a dating website.<ref name="out" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The couple was married in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on February 18, 2007.<ref name="pub" /> In 2012, Maupin purchased a home in Tesuque, New Mexico, previously owned by shoe designers Lynne and Dennis Comeau.<ref>"Santa Fe New Mexican", October 14, 2012</ref> In 2019, Maupin and Turner relocated to London,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> settling in Clapham.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2023, Maupin became a British citizen.<ref name=":0" />

Maupin's life and work are explored in the documentary The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Early in his career, he was mentored by writer Christopher Isherwood, who had a significant influence on his writing.<ref>Template:Cite web – Armistead Maupin interviews Christopher Isherwood for The Village Voice, Volume 30, Number 16</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Maupin identifies as an atheist<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is a cousin of the British singer Sarah Jane Morris, formerly of The Communards.<ref name="ny" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Bibliography

Tales of the City

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

Other novels

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book

Memoir

• Template:Cite book

Compilations

• Template:Cite book Contains Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, and Further Tales of the City.
• Template:Cite book Contains Babycakes, Significant Others, and Sure of You.
• Template:Cite book Contains Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn, and The Days of Anna Madrigal.

Awards

• 2007, Barbary Coast Award, presented by Litquake Literary Festival, San Francisco<ref>

Template:Cite news</ref>

• 2006, Best Gay Read Award, presented by the Big Gay Read Literature Festival, in the UK<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• 2001, Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Book Award<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1999, Capital Award, presented by GLAAD Media Awards<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 1997 Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (Publishing Triangle)

Further reading

• Gale, Patrick. Armistead Maupin. Bath, Somerset, England: Absolute Press, 1999. Template:ISBN

External links

• Armistead Maupin official website
• Armistead Maupin at Random House Australia
• Template:Cite web – Maupin's previous website, archived on the Wayback Machine; most material is not on the new website
• Template:IMDb name
• Armistead Maupin Interviewed
• Template:OL author