Is October Going To Be “Armistead Maupin Month” In Seattle?

Armistead Maupin heads to Seattle in October to promote new book and documentary. Photo by Christopher Turner

We have a sneaky suspicion that Seattle area fans of beloved novelist/activist ARMISTEAD MAUPIN, best known for his 9 volume “Tales of the City” series of books chronicling the lives of a “chosen family” of LGBTQ and allied friends in San Francisco from 1975 through 2014 will have much to celebrate this upcoming October 2017.

For one known thing, Mr. Maupin is scheduled to be in Seattle on Monday, October 16th for “A Conversation With Armistead Maupin” at Benaroya Hall as part of a national tour to promote the October 3rd release of Mr. Maupin’s memoir, Logical Family. Tickets are on sale now and are available through the Benaroya Hall Box Office, at 206.215.4747 or online at www.benaroyahall.org. This event is in the smaller Isley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall so if you want good seats, snag them asap!

“The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin” is HOPEFULLY coming to Seattle this fall…

One less unsure thing but I’m also thinking highly probable is the fact that TWIST: Seattle’s Queer Film Festival is happening October 12th through the 22nd and Mr. Maupin also has a documentary film about himself, THE UNTOLD TALES OF ARMISTEAD MAUPIN making the festival circuit this year. Guessing/projecting/surmising/hoping that TWIST could maybe/possibly be screening this film while Mr. Maupin is in town for his Benaroya event.

Maybe.

Fingers crossed.

More on the Benaroya event:

“What Maupin has to say to all of us about love and tolerance is worth hearing.” — Linda Ellerbee

“Maupin is one of America’s finest storytellers, and the story of his life is a story as fascinating, as delightful and as compulsive as any of the tales he has made up for us.” — Neil Gaiman

To celebrate the October publication of his memoir, Logical Family, ARMISTEAD MAUPIN sits down with Seattle Review of Books founder Paul Constant for an insightful and entertaining conversation in the intimate Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. With a heartfelt introduction from longtime friend Dennis Coleman (former artistic director for the Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus), the audience will get a first-hand glimpse into the groundbreaking life and work of this legendary writer and activist.

About the artist:
Launched in 1976 as a groundbreaking serial in the San Francisco Chronicle, Armistead Maupin’s iconic Tales of the City series has since blazed its own trail through popular culture – from a sequence of globally best-selling novels, to a Peabody Award-winning television miniseries starring Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney, to an ambitious new musical that had its world premiere at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater in 2011. The series now encompasses eight hugely popular novels: Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You, Michael Tolliver Lives, and Mary Ann in Autumn. The final Tales novel, The Days of Anna Madrigal, was released in January 2014. It premiered at #3 on the Independent Bestseller list and #7 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

His new memoir titled Logical Family, which grew out of his critically acclaimed one-man show of the same name, will be published on October 3. Neil Gaiman said this about Logical Family; “Maupin is one of America’s finest storytellers, and the story of his life is a story as fascinating, as delightful and as compulsive as any of the tales he has made up for us.”

Maupin’s 1992 novel, Maybe the Moon, which followed the serio-comic adventures of a dwarf actress working in Hollywood, was named one of the ten best books of the year by Entertainment Weekly. The Night Listener (2000), a psychological suspense novel inspired by an eerie episode in Maupin’s own life, became a 2006 feature film starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.

In 1997 Maupin received the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Publishing Triangle of New York. In 2002 he was honored with the Trevor Project’s Life Award “for his efforts in saving young lives.” Maupin was the first recipient of Litquake’s Barbary Coast Award for his literary contribution to San Francisco. In 2012 he was awarded Lambda’s Pioneer Award which is bestowed on individuals who have broken new ground in the field of LGBT literature and publishing. In 2014 he received an honor-ary Doctor of Letters from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He also received the Visionary Award from the 2014 Outfest Legacy Awards for his collected novels and their “…diverse, interconnected community of San Francisco bohemians — which shaped our collective fantasy of what LGBT life is and could be….” Maupin is the subject of a new documentary titled Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin.

He lives with his husband, Christopher Turner, a photographer.

VIP TICKET & RECEPTION:
VIP Seating in the first three rows will include admission to a private meet-and-greet with Armistead in the Recital Hall lobby immediately prior to the event.