Pause for 9/11

Most of us who were born before 2000 will remember what they were doing and where they were on 11th September 2001, 20 years ago today. I was at work, stationed in the main art gallery on the top floor of Nottingham Castle. It was time for my afternoon break but my colleague who was to take over from me for 20 minutes was 5 minutes late. I wasn’t too worried. Then he was 10 minutes late, and I was wondering where he was. Then he was 15 minutes late, and I radioed down to the office to ask where he was. At which point he arrived and told me that he had been watching the television in the staff room. Two planes had crashed into the World Trade Centre, he said. It didn’t sink in for a minute or two until I got to the staff room and saw for myself the tragedy unfolding on television.

There was a sombre feeling in the air for the rest of the day. About an hour later one of my ex-partners (let’s call him Sam) came to visit me in the gallery. He has just come off duty as a nurse and had been effected by the news, which was made more personal for him as only a month beforehand he and his then partner were standing on the top of the World Trade Centre. For reasons which don’t concern us, he and his partner had split up since then and Sam was feeling vulnerable. He asked me to keep him company that evening. I agreed and we couldn’t help but watch what was going on in New York for the rest of the night.

Many commemorative events are taking place around the world. There are too many names of those who lost their lives for us to remember individually. Many have family and friends to remember them, but some may not. The lgbt community lost just a tiny group of people compared to the full list of casualties. Below is a list of those known to us.

I list their names alone in alphabetical order of surname. Just by reading down the list you are contributing to the global commemoration and helping to keep their names alive, whether they are remembered by their loved ones or by no-one other than yourself.

Renee Barrett

Graham Berkeley

Mark Bingham

Pamela Boyce

David Charlebois

Eugene Clark

Jeffrey Collman

Luke Dudek

James Joe Ferguson

Carol Flyzik

Ronald Gamboa and his partner Dan Brandhorst

Sheila Hein

Mychal Judge

William Anthony Karnes

John Keohane

Andrew LaCorte

Michael Lepore

Patricia McAneney

Wesley Mercer

“Roxy Eddie” Ognibene

Seamus O’Neal

Catherine Smith

Waleska Martinez

and two people who are known to us by their first name only,

Eddie

Joshua

Going Part-time

I’ve been saying this for a long time, but I need to slow down. The time has come to put my words into action.

When I began this blog way back in 2011 I didn’t know what reaction I’d get. Ten years later, and exactly a week after my 10th anniversary, the blog passed half a million page views. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate people’s interest in what I write, even if they stumble on my blog by accident and never return.

For several years my intention was to stop writing when I reached my 10th anniversary. It would also be when I’ve reached an age when I can start thinking about early retirement. Reaching half a million page views is another reason why I’ve thought about it again – the 10th anniversary, half a million page views, entering my 60s. It seems an appropriate time to step back.

This has always been a hobby. I’ve never asked for money from readers and I don’t accept adverts (I’ve lost count of the ads that crop up masquerading as comments that I’ve deleted). So I’ve never made a living out of this, not even from my Olympic research which has been very popular from the start.

History should also be freely accessible without censorship (I leave that sort of manipulation of facts to politically left and right activists).

There has always been something in lgbt history that catches my eye when researching, and there’s so much more to find. With that in mind I want to reassure regular “fans” that I’ll still keep researching and writing – but not as often.

To ensure that at least one article appears each month, a list of birthdays will (hopefully) appear on the first day of each month or the last day of the previous month.

Fans of my annual Heraldic Alphabet, and I know there are many out there from the reaction I’ve received on social media, can expect another edition in June 2022.

The planned articles that will appear for the rest of this year are listed below. It is unlikely that this schedule will change.

11th September – 9/11 20th anniversary in memoriam.

1st October – list of October birthdays.

26th October – William and John: Part 5) Robin Hood.

1st November – list of November birthdays.

28th November – Advent 1: The first of my annual Christmas articles with an lgbt theme.

1st December – list of December birthdays.

5th December – Advent 2.

12th December – Advent 3.

19th December – Advent 4.

1st January 2022 – list of January birthdays.

A provisional list of proposed article for 2022 will appear at the beginning of January.

Thinking well ahead to 2023 I have begun research for a new series of “Around the World in 80 Gays”. The individual who will start and finish this circle of 80 connected lgbt people through time and location has already been chosen – the Roman Emperor Hadrian.

Once again, thank you for showing an interest in my blog. I hope you return to check out the new articles when they are published.