that lasted for a fall and winter. season back at Bedford Hills and a second summer on the island.

During the past year, Pat frequently read to me parts of letters she received which were written by people who had read The Front Runner. They felt an urgent need to communicate their feelings to her. The letters, with their intensely personal confessions of honest emotion, touched her deeply, and she sought to share her gratitude and strong sense of responsibility. As the anniversary of the publication of her book approached, coinciding with the celebration of her new contract, I asked Pat for permission to quote from some of the letters and thereby share her readers' reactions with the readers of the ADVOCATE. At first, uneasy about appearing to betray the letter writers' confidence, she refused. When I assured her that no. names would be used and only the most general geographical reference stated, she agreed.

From the bundles of mail that continue to arrive, forwarded from her publisher's New York office, she chose the following examples:

A reader in Toronto, Canada wrote, "I am filled with a great sense of warmth, a sense of being understood. At last I shall be able to purchase a book to give to my straight friends who 'don't understand."" An ex-runner from West Hollywood said, "The Front Runner says everything I've ever felt in a collected, forceful way. Your book is the first about men in love which gives us credit for being

men."

Over and over again, readers declared the book had exerted a strong influence on their decision to change their attitude about being gay. A moving example came from a young man in the New York area who described his situation in this manner: "Here I am sitting at my desk in a lavishly furnished apartment in a nice small quiet town, married, fairly well situated financially, and with an enjoyable job until now, until Billy Sive and The Front Runner. My dream has been crushed; my world has ended. I have lived for the past three years married to a wonderful, beautiful and understanding girl and only now have I realized that I am only ruining her life and my own. I am gay, and I am glad that I am, and I don't want to be saved or changed. Therefore, I am shortly going to leave my wife and my marriage and home and start out again and try to find my happiness. I will be a little 23-year-old kid coming out into the big city and for the first time entering the bigger world all alone. I am scared but quite confident that I will be able to do it. Thank you for ending my dream and starting my world."

A young man working toward a career in opera wrote from the West Coast: "Last night I began reading your book and when I finished it five hours later I was completely wrung out and could not go to sleep. I do not remember ever experiencing a work of art which. so directly spoke to my condition. Your book has given me amount of courage I lacked. It will now be easier to pluck up the words, 'Keep your hands off me, Sweetie! I'm gay, and no amount of ultimate career rewards equals your intrusion upon my nature!' Elderly Opera Guild ladies are especially adept at pawing and manhandling tall young basses."

an

Pat Warren

Photo: Ken Howard

"What kept coming through to me was... envy for having known men or women such as those depicted in your book. How beautiful, how strong, how real, and yes, how sexy these people appear to me.'

An appreciative reader from New York City sent a brief, to-thepoint note: "Thanks for Billy Sive and Harlan Brown, and also for using the heart instead of another bedroom to tell your story."

Not all gay readers were willing to accept the book without a few reservations. As a reader from the San Francisco area put it, "I went up and down with the book, liking this, criticizing that. And I came to realize that I was seizing the flaws, holding on to them, as a way of holding down an intense feeling inside me: the wanting it to be true. Every gay person wonders if a love like that-faithful, peaceful and growing is possible. My own experience and other peoples' suggest that the odds are against it. But that doesn't stop us from wanting it. And even though one part of me insisted, 'It can't happen' another part of me was convinced enough that when Billy died, I couldn't picture how Harlan could go on. For Harlan, at least, that love was real."

As the author had hoped would. happen, the book's appeal clearly crossed the borderlines of gender and sexual orientation. A significant percentage of the letters she has received were written by women, most of them apparently discovering the subject of gay love for the first time. One such letter came from a 31-year-old mother of two who had been married for 11 years. She said, "I have never known any homosexuals-male or female so I have no first-hand feelings about these people, I do, however, know about love. Thank you for writing such a beautiful, moving love story." Another was

so impressed with the characters and the setting that she asked, "Was Prescott College totally a figment of your imagination or is there a college somewhere similar to it? I would like to support such

a college in any way possible. Although I am not gay, I plan now to become active in the gay rights movement."

A young woman from a small town in Maryland described her acutely personal reaction. "I was deeply and, I might add, inexplicably moved by The Front Runner. What kept coming through to me was empathy for your pain and envy for your having known men or women such as those depicted in your book. How beautiful, how strong, how real, and, yes, how sexy these people appear to me. As far as the book as gay propaganda per se-right on! What a respectable instument of propaganda!"

With its cool, sane defiance of traditional values, it's not surprising that The Front Runner provoked emotional reactions from several members of the clergy. A divinity student at an Episcopal school in New England wrote, "For so long I have carried a hidden burden of anger and self-hatred within me. Reading the story of Billy Sive has unexpectedly resurrected my hoping, dreaming gay self, so long buried by conflict and self-torture. I'm not a runner, of course, perhaps not even a very spectacular kind of person, but somewhere inside me is my own common version of your hero. However my growing up fares from now on, your story has been a marvel and a precious gift. God grant that I shall learn to love and

appreciate the myriad everyday wonders of being alive and gay."

A gay minister from Manhattan stated: "I found your book doing what 19th century novels supposedly did-widening my mind and teaching me. It seems to me that you have artfully trod the narrow line between plausible fantasy that expands the reader's dreams and hopes (something gays really need) and the simply fantastic."

From a small New England town, a middle-aged priest wrote, "In the past two months I have read The Front Runner three times. Each time I found myself discovering the rich depth of human living, the gift of total giving of mind, soul and body. You have succeeded in changing many homosexual stereotypes, but, most of all, the stereotype of immortality."

Even the book's therapeutic value was commented upon. The head of a personal and family counseling agency in Texas stated: "I have prescribed The Front Runner for several of my clients and the therapeutic results have been absolutely wonderful!"

Not all the letters, however, overwhelmingly praised the book. A lone negative vote came in from Southern California. The writer, a fellow author, stated that he wrote from "a sense of literary affront, and personal disappointment." Some of his objections to the book were that "Harlan turns into a paranoic, trembling mother hen who spouts dialogue worthy of True Confessions. The gay scene and its philosophy are belabored to the point where most readers will be turned off. Billy's death seems totally unwarranted and

May 7, 1975

turns the tale into pure melodrama. Perhaps having gotten cer-

tain things off your chest in this book, you may find it pertinent to produce another love story about two men but this time eliminating the flag-waving, particularly about the gays, who I have always separ-. ated from adjusted homosexuals."

One of the author's favorite letters arrived from. Arizona, written by a cowboy who expressed his appreciation to a fellow-Westerner in drawling laconic prose. "I swam competitively seven years ago," he said, "and there was no 'coming out' then. My lover and I are gay cowboys-not Western drag queens-with a good ranch, good horses and good living-just being people. 'Course I'm out-gay and proud." Then, as if to apologize for perhaps intruding upon her work, he added, "Don't bother answering this. Just do your writing."

Most readers expressed a sincere concern over the upcoming screen version of the novel, who would play the two major roles and, more importantly, if the film treatment would differ from the author's original work. "Hold on to the control," they pleaded over and over again, implying an intense, protective feeling toward what they considered, at least partly, to be mutual property. Unlike readers of other popular fiction headed for the screen, readers refrained from suggesting likely

candidates for the roles. Nevertheless, Paul Newman's name quickly became an almost subliminal, universal contender in everyone's mind for the part of Harlan Brown.

Several film producers approached the author's agent with tentative proposals for a film deal. As time passed and "blue sky" conditions became more concrete, names and dates were offered, and finally a deal was made with a well-known Hollywood agent-producer, Hugh French, to produce the film version.

As co-producer, French recently signed with Paul Newman's own company, Projections, Unlimited, thereby adding further to the rising din of rumors that Newman is, indeed, set to play the lead. At the moment, however, French declares that such a cast announcement would be premature. As in any other role situation, Newman is waiting to see a finished script before he signs to appear as star of the film he is co-producing.

The man Newman and French selected to write the screenplay of The Front Runner is Jeremy Larner, an Oscar winner for his script The Candidate, in which Robert Redford starred.

The producers have two trains of thought as to who should be cast in the title role of Billy Sive. Discussions have been held with Timothy Bottoms, who is reported to be very interested in playing the role. At the same time, the possibility of conducting a talent search among the nation's college athletic teams for a young athlete who also possesses the potential for meeting. the dramatic demands of the role is being considered.

While script and casting wait, a distribution deal is already set with United Artists. Whatever the final decision, even before the first camera rolls, the film version of The Front Runner is destined to become a cinematic milestone. Hopefully, it will remain true to the love story that so many readers have endorsed as their own.

THE ADVOCATE

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