CHRONICLE August 27, 1999′′

books

Humorist's life is only partly like his books

That's Mr. Faggot to You

Further Trials from My Queer Life by Michael Thomas Ford Alyson, $11.95 paperback

by Kaizaad Kotwal

Michael Thomas Ford's first collection of essays, Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me, caught the swarthy actor's attention and upon returning home from a book tour in April 1998, Ford received a handwritten letter from Baldwin.

"I thought it would say something like 'I'm going to sue your big fat ass!' Ford recalled. But luckily for him, Baldwin wrote "Your book is very funny... needless to say I am honored."

Alec won a Lambda Literary Award for the best humor book of 1998, and it drew rave reviews, becoming one of the top selling gay-themed books of the year.

The past year has gone by very quickly for Ford and he already has another collection, That's Mr. Faggot to You, and is working on a third collection. Ford is one of those rare writers who tries to make his living solely by writing. His collection of essays originate in his columns which are published monthly in publications across the country.

I asked Ford what he could tell us about himself that the columns don't.

"So much of it really is me," he answered, "and people will read parts of your life and assume your whole life is like that, and I have had a taste of that."

"There's not a lot I don't write about," he continued, "and there's not much to keep private. However, the danger is that with humor you need exaggeration."

Therein lies the problem. When the read-

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ers begin to take his exaggerations as representations of his true life, Ford gets fans who will write him or tell him in person things like, “You don't have to be lonely” or “Things will get better."

Today, Ford gets a lot of mail and recognition from his readers, and he says, "I try and reply to everyone.”

With success and fame come limitations. "Once you become known for something," Ford explained, "they want you to do the same, so as soon as Alec became popular, all of a sudden there's this concept of who you are and what you write and it becomes very specialized."

According to Ford, "the second book is more serious.”

Ford knows that ultimately in publishing "everything is about the bottom line." And with two collections under his belt, both published by Alyson, the dilemma is whether to stay with the gay press with its limited finances or go to a larger publishing house where the relationships are often impersonal.

On the personal front, when asked about a significant other, Ford quips, "Who has time for a personal life? Taking care of the dog takes up ninety-nine percent of my time."

Ford lives in the Jamaica Plain part of Boston with his "one big black Lab, Roger."

"I'm a dog person," Ford enthuses, "and I love big dogs because they are so solid and very funny. Roger is very serious and it's funny to see undignified things happen to him. The other day we were walking and a bird shat on his head, and he dived and rolled down and then looked at me as is to say, 'I can't believe that' or 'I meant to do that"," Ford reminisces with a laugh. For Ford, dogs are great because "it's that they expect a lot but they don't demand anything."

music

Ford has entered his thirties and realizes that different age groups may relate differently to his writing.

"The only bad review I got for Alec was in the magazine Homo Xtra, and it was written by a twenty-three year old." Baldwin is alluding to the fact that while his writing is humorous, there is often a political edge there and he clearly speaks from the vantage point of having made it to his thirties.

One of Ford's pet peeves, he says, "are stupid people who think they're right or people who think they're right, because they have a badge of some sort."

He brings up the upcoming Millenium March on Washington to illustrate his point. "The Millennial March...is about one group telling us that we all want the same thing as queer folk. There's Andrew Sullivan's notion that you gain respect by being just like the others, and while it's comforting, you lose something."

Ford added his resentment about some in the GLBT community who dole out advice, particularly about sexual behavior.

"There's this notion in the gay community that we need to be told what to do, especially this sex panic thing." Ford said. "People like Larry Kramer or Michaelangelo Signorile telling us 'don't do it, it's bad for you'."

"We're not twelve," he adds emphatically, "and what's good for the community isn't always what's good for me. It's like those parents who don't want their

Michael Thomas Ford

children to make the choices that they didn't have."

Ford's second collection of essays continue to show that his writing has the wit and edge displayed by fellow columnist and satirist Art Buchwald. Ford's humor is very contemporary, laced with many references to pop culture, and astutely observant of the gay and lesbian community and its politics and more mundane musings.

Publisher's Weekly wrote of Ford's second collection of essays, "Not for the fainthearted, or fans of Jesse Helms, this collection achieves the feel of a down-and-dirty dish session with a very amusing friend."

Ultimately, Ford's greatest talent and his best gift to his readers is his keen honesty and vulnerability as a writer and gay man.

Kaizaad Kotwal is a Chronicle contributing writer living in Columbus.

Soundtrack is a moving sonic landscape

Climb Against the Odds Soundtrack

Various Artists PBS Records

Reviewed by Harriet L. Schwartz

Fueled by a line-up that reads like a who's who among women musicians, the Climb Against the Odds soundtrack brims with in-

Climb Against Odds

spiration and emotion. It provides moving sonic landscape to accompany an upcoming PBS documentary about

the 1998 expedition of 12 women, in-

cluding five breast cancer survivors, who attempted to climb Alaska's Mt. McKinley. Beth Nielsen Chapman opens the album with an upbeat "Happy Girl," but the mood shifts quickly with Nanci Griffith's midtempo "Across the Great Divide," a mellow and picturesque musical journey. Celine Dion kicks the tempo back up a few notches with the inspirational and dance-floor-ready "Love Can Move Mountains.” The Indigo Girls and k.d. lang also contribute with "Everything in Its Own Time" and "Just Keep Me Moving."

The only track that disappoints on this album is Billie Myers' "Mother, Daughter, Sister, Lover" in which Myers' vocals go over the top emotionally, ultimately reducing the impact of this potentially powerful song.

The soundtrack also offers two rich instrumental pieces, composed specifically for the documentary. Cellist Jami Sieber, who

performed at Cleveland Pride this year, is richly introspective with "Tell It By Heart," while Emmy-winner Laura Karpman contributes "Marcy's Theme," a textured and mysterious piece.

Finally, bridging the gap between instrumental and vocally-driven tracks, Sweet Honey in the Rock close the album with "Fulani Chant," a layered and moving piece

CHELSEA BOYS

GLEN HANSON

and

ALLAN NEUWIRTH

AFTER WEEKS OF DATING AND WAITING, NATHAN AND STEVE ARE FINALLY ABOUT TO 00 "IT".

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that runs more than nine minutes long.

Many of the songwriters, composers and performers who appear on the CD donated 100% of their royalties from the recording to the Breast Cancer Fund, a national nonprofit organization.

Harriet L. Schwartz is a Chronicle contributing writer living in Pittsburgh.

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