Arnie Kantrowitz is a professor and Chair of the Department of English, Speech, and World Literature at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, where he has taught "Gay Male Literature," "Film and Minorities," and "Walt Whitman," among many other courses. He was vice-president of Gay Activists Alliance (GAA/NY) in 1971 and a founding member of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in 1985. He is the author of the groundbreaking autobiography Under the Rainbow: Growing Up Gay. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Village Voice, Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review, Lambda Book Report, Advocate, Outweek, and other periodicals; and in many books, including: Poets for Life, Hometowns, Leatherfolk, Sissies and Tomboys, Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, and Gay Histories and Cultures. His personal, political, and literary papers have been collected for the Gay and Lesbian Archive of the Fifth Avenue branch of the New York Public Library. He lives in New York City with his lover, Lawrence Mass (interviewed in chapter 14).
Photo: Gene Bagnato

Mark Thompson served at The Advocate from 1975 through the next two decades as a feature writer, photographer, and Senior Editor. He's best known, however, for his influential trilogy of books exploring gay spirituality. The first, Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning, is a widely acclaimed anthology and was recently on Lambda Book Report's list of "100 Lesbian and Gay Books That Changed Our Lives." Gay Soul: Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit and Nature, a collection of in-depth conversations and photographs with sixteen prominent writers, teachers, and visionaries, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. The trilogy was completed with Gay Body: A Journey through Shadow to Self, an autobiographical memoir combining elements of Jungian archetypes, gay history and mythology, and New Age spirituality. His other work includes the anthologies Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics and Practice and Long Road to Freedom: The Advocate History of the Gay and Lesbian Movement, as well as numerous essays in other collections. Thompson holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology and works part-time as a psychotherapist with gay and lesbian youth. He lives in Los Angeles with his longtime life partner, Episcopal priest and author Malcolm Boyd.
Photo: Erin Flynn

Kirk Read grew up in Lexington, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia. His writing has appeared in QSF, Christopher Street, Genre, and the anthologies A Day for a Lay: A Century of Gay Poetry and Best Gay Erotica 1999. He is the former editor of Our Own Community Press in Virginia, and his columns have appeared in over sevety-five LGBT publications worldwide. His writing can be seen at www.temenos.net/kirkread. His first book, a memoir about being openly gay in high school, will be published in 2001 by Hill Street Press. As an organizer, he has served on the planning collective for the Gay Men's Sex Summit in Pittsburgh and two Gay Men's Health Summits in Boulder. He spends volunteer time with San Francisco City Clinic's free health clinic for sex workers, where he facilitates a support group for men. At the time of this interview, Kirk lived in San Francisco, but currently lives in northern California.
Photo: courtesy of K. Read

A Chicago native, Manny Lim is the oldest child of Filipino immigrants. Before his current job as a faculty assistant at Harvard Law School, he worked as an award-winning newspaper copy editor and page designer, college chaplain, bookstore events director, and church music director. Manny is active in Boston's GLBT community, having served as chair of the Pride Interfaith Coalition and on the board of the Queer Asian Pacific Alliance. He is a member of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, where he serves as bass section leader and chairs the Membership Services Committee. A "good Catholic boy," Manny has been a liturgical musician for more than fifteen years, most recently with the Paulist Center and Dignity/Boston. His other interests include singing cabaret, folk dancing, cooking, and reading. And cuddling. He resides with his partner in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Photo: Lewis Brian Day

Dave Gerard was born in the Bronx during the blizzard of '61, the second youngest of seven siblings, and has an older brother who is gay. He has been involved professionally in the advertising field ever since he was graduated from the School of Visual Arts (NYC) in the early '80's and currently works in the PR department of an ad agency in Boston. Artistically, he has performed professionally as a poet, musician, writer (music journalism), part-time DJ, composer, photographer, and painter, including concert performances, gallery exhibits, and feature readings. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of various types of music, as well as eclectic musical tastes, and has been a contributor to the Boston Globe and the Boston Phoenix. He is blessed with his friends, oceanview studio, hobbies, and job.
Photo: Ray Ackerman

Ali Lopez grew up in the small coastal town of Dorado, Puerto Rico, where he began to draw in his early teens by looking at comic books. At age seventeen, he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where he became a staff sergeant. After six and a half years in the military, he moved to the DC/Baltimore area, where he became involved with the Bear and leather communities. His artwork has been featured in Daddybear, In Uniform, Bear, German Bear, and Bulk Male, and he has created comic serials for American Grizzly and Bulk Male. His graphics work has been included in the "Bear Icons" art exhibition. Ali is also a contributor to The Bear Book 2.
Photo: courtesy of A. Lopez

George Varas was born in 1969 in NYC of West Indian and Greek heritage. He came out in 1984 and has since been involved in various gay activist groups (ACT-UP, Men of All Colors, GLYNY, and MetroBears). Bear-identified since 1987 - introduced to "Beardom" when some older Bears brought the concept over from SF to NYC. He runs many Bear-oriented listservs and works in Web and graphic design and audiovisual engineering. He was formerly married to David Michael Merk, a red-bearded engineer, and currently partnered with Keef Robert, a burly Canadian Bear musician and audio-technician. His online presence is at www.ursinedesign.com.
Photo: Alex Schell/UrsineDesign

Terry Jamro was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in February 1977, and grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Wilbraham, Mass. In 1998, he transferred to Northeastern University, where he now studies Computer Engineering. Terry was the Chapter Coordinator for Gen-X Bears Boston from 1997 through March 2000. He also coordinated the Gen-X Bears 4th Annual East Coast Gathering in April 1999, which more than one hundred Bears from around the Northeast attended. As the current Chapter Development Director for Gen-X Bears International, he helps forming chapters worldwide and serves as a resource for other chapter coordinators. Some of his hobbies are football, amateur wrestling, and camping. Terry likes big guys with goatees ("You must be at least two hundred pounds to board this ride!"). As of this writing, he's single!
Photo: courtesy of Terry Jamro

Brian Kearns was born in January 1980 in an industrial city east of Toronto and raised nearby. He chose to stay close to the area after high school and is currently studying interior design at a local design college located (surprise!) right in the middle of the gay district. His involvement with the community itself has been mostly limited to the Internet: in 1997, Brian started BearYouth.com, a Website for teens and young men who are looking for support and a safe social outlet. So far, so good: BearYouth.com has been up and running for four years now.
Photo: courtesy of B. Kearns

Heath McKay was born in June 1974, and grew up in Millis, Mass., a small town southwest of Boston. His sexuality revealed itself to him at eighteen, he came out to all his friends at nineteen, and told his befuddled parents at twenty. He attended college at University of Maine - Orono, where he threw himself into activism and into "token queer" stature. He also became involved with Wilde-Stein, the gay group on campus - as well as about twenty other campus clubs and activities. In 1999, he won the Mr. Grizzly New England title. He went on to compete at IBR 2000 and was named International Mr. Bear 2000, the youngest man to hold that title. Heath lives and works as a graphic designer in the Boston area. He has a wonderful boyfriend.
Photo: Lynn S. Ludwig <www.ludwigphotos.com>