Gay diary

Jeb and Dash: A Diary of Gay Life, 1918-1945 - Softcover

Reviews

The torment and loneliness of homosexuality in a more repressive era is palpably evoked in this intense diary of Jeb Alexander (1899-1965), the pseudonym for Russell's uncle. Jeb, who was an editor in a government office in Washington, D.C., bequeathed to Russell 50 volumes of diaries from which she distilled this selection. Extending from the WW I armistice to the stock market fall to the defeat of fascism, this gracefully written diary includes myriad impressions of topical events and people like Will Rogers, Pola Negri, Thornton Wilder, Charles Lindbergh and others. But the unifying thread is Jeb's love affairs, including his long second relationship with C. C. Dasham, a state department employee. Readers are privy to Jeb's fears that he may be under police surveillance as a suspected "deviant" criminal, and to his distress over an unsympathetic society that allows him little happiness or peace of soul. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In 1965 Ina Russell inherited 50 volumes of diaries in a fireproof cabinet from her uncle Jeb Alexander (pseudonym). Unbeknownst to her was the treasure t

A Gay Diary: 1933-1946

February 20, 2018

A remarkable personal document, but even more crucially, indispensable documentation of the lives of gay men in the pre-Stonewall era. An aspiring playwright and short story writer, Vining's diaries—of which this was the first of five massive volumes that were eventually published—benefit immeasurably from his eye for distinct , vivid details, as good as an almost journalistic style and sensibility (ever a harsh self-critic, in the short introduction he wrongly dismisses his writing as "often poor"). What a pleasure and privilege to receive such intimate access to a person's life, and especially so when it's as engaging as Vining's. I'm not quite ready to commit to another year-long reading project yet, but I'll definitely be continuing on to the next volume at some point in the future.

The 200-year-old diary that's rewriting gay history

BBC

Historians from Oxford University have been taken aback to discover that Matthew Tomlinson's diary from 1810 contains such open-minded views about same-sex attraction being a "natural" human tendency.

The diary challenges preconceptions about what "ordinary people" thought about homosexuality - showing there was a debate about whether someone really should be discriminated against for their sexuality.

"In this exciting new finding out, we see a Yorkshire farmer arguing that homosexuality is innate and something that shouldn't be punished by death," says Oxford researcher Eamonn O'Keeffe.

The historian had been examining Tomlinson's handwritten diaries, which contain been stored in Wakefield Library since the 1950s.

The thousands of pages of the private journals contain never been transcribed and previously used by researchers interested in Tomlinson's eye-witness accounts of elections in Yorkshire and the Luddites smashing up machinery.

But O'Keeffe came across what seemed, for the era of George III, to be a rather startling put of argume

Jeb and Dash: A Diary of Gay Life, 1918-1945

Jeb Alexander. Faber & Faber, $24.95 (285pp) ISBN 978-0-571-19817-7

The torment and loneliness of homosexuality in a more repressive era is palpably evoked in this intense diary of Jeb Alexander (1899-1965), the pseudonym for Russell's uncle. Jeb, who was an editor in a government office in Washington, D.C., bequeathed to Russell 50 volumes of diaries from which she distilled this selection. Extending from the WW I armistice to the stock market crash to the defeat of fascism, this gracefully written diary includes myriad impressions of topical events and people appreciate Will Rogers, Pola Negri, Thornton Wilder, Charles Lindbergh and others. But the unifying thread is Jeb's love affairs, including his long time relationship with C. C. Dasham, a state department employee. Readers are privy to Jeb's fears that he may be under police surveillance as a suspected ``deviant'' criminal, and to his distress over an unsympathetic society that allows him little happiness or tranquility of mind. Photos. (Nov.)

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Reviewed on: 11/01/1993

Genre: Nonfiction