Thus begins film critic Mansel Stimpson’s memoir describing the impact upon his life of a single pivotal moment – his late but positive and totally unexpected realisation that he was gay.
Written some thirty years ago but only published now for the first time, the story gains from the fact that so much of it – everything that followed on from the author’s recognition of his sexuality – was recorded as it was happening. His first tentative forays into the world of gay dating, his developing sex life and the search for long-term fulfilment are set against his growing involvement in organisations such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the emotional impact of deciding when and how to come out to friends and colleagues.
Although a personal tale, this is also a portrait of an era, sharing what it meant to be gay in the late 1970s and early 1980s when attitudes to homosexuality were gradually changing.
Mansel Stimpson is co-author of the definitive film yearbook Film Review, now in its 69th annual edition. A reviewer and interviewer for What’s On In London for almost 20 years, and sometime film critic for Gay Times, he is Chair of the Eastbourne Film Society and has introduced films and led discussions at London’s National Film Theatre. With his partner whom he met some 24 years ago he now divides his time between London and Eastbourne.
Written some thirty years ago but only published now for the first time, the story gains from the fact that so much of it – everything that followed on from the author’s recognition of his sexuality – was recorded as it was happening. His first tentative forays into the world of gay dating, his developing sex life and the search for long-term fulfilment are set against his growing involvement in organisations such as the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and the emotional impact of deciding when and how to come out to friends and colleagues.
Although a personal tale, this is also a portrait of an era, sharing what it meant to be gay in the late 1970s and early 1980s when attitudes to homosexuality were gradually changing.
Mansel Stimpson is co-author of the definitive film yearbook Film Review, now in its 69th annual edition. A reviewer and interviewer for What’s On In London for almost 20 years, and sometime film critic for Gay Times, he is Chair of the Eastbourne Film Society and has introduced films and led discussions at London’s National Film Theatre. With his partner whom he met some 24 years ago he now divides his time between London and Eastbourne.
