Lesbian author Patricia Highsmith was something of an odd duck according to two new bios reviewed in The NY Times Book Review (8-31). Beautiful Shadow by Andrew Wilson and Highsmith by Marijane Meaker. First, why she’s being reviewed now: she was the author of Strangers on a Train (filmed by Hitchcock) and The Talented Mr. Ripley, among many other novels. How she was odd: she kept purses full of live snails, hauled the same pile of firewood from place to place to pinch pennies, and collected girlfriends (22 are casually mentioned in the review). The book Highsmith is by an old lover who delineates a good relationship gone bad, but both books indicate that by the end of her life Highsmith had become a racist anti-Semite. Both biographers also say her books are riveting and painful to read.
There are female folks out there bound to be interested in a new scientific find. According to The NY Times science section (9-16), all those many species of giant extinct birds from New Zealand, the Moas, turn out to be just two species. And the female was 2-1/2 times as heavy as the male and 50% taller.
The Tribune (9-16) had an article examining the fact that certain real estate agents such as Donna Carpavicius of Chicago are targeting gay couples as customers. Also the number of gay agents has increased: Alan Zuber of Baird and Warner says, ‘Out of 97 agents in our Lincoln Park office, I don’t even think there are 10 straight men.’
And speaking of gay men where you didn’t expect them, the Chicago Sun-Times (9-19) points out the heavy involvement of gay men in the Miss America pageant. Many are involved behind stage, and also out there spectator-sporting by throwing simultaneous dress-up parties during the broadcast. Former Miss America Kate Shindle says, ‘It’s an interesting dynamic, to have gay men so highly involved when it’s a conservative organization in so many ways.’ She goes on to point out the number of contestants who have never knowingly met a gay man but who are now immersed in gayness in a completely helpful way.