So, apparently, Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman probably did it once.

[Thorn Wilde]

 

Because mine is an evil and a petty mind, suitable more to wallowing in the sordid sexual goings-on of literary giants than in reading their work, I take every opportunity I can to inform people who may not have known that Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde almost certainly had sex in 1882.

You are either the kind of person to whom this matters a great deal, or the kind of person to whom it matters not at all. To the latter I say: yours is the narrow road and the straight, and I extend to you a hearty and fulsome handshake, as well as my sincerest wishes for your continued good health. To the former I say: Want to hear about the time Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde (probably) hooked up??

 

Just thought I'd leave this here.

 

Read full article here.

[crazyfish]

Just thought I'd leave this here.

 

Read full article here.

I'm counting on you to write the next Walt Whitman/Oscar Wilde slash fiction.

[hh5]

I though oscar went for younger guys?

[Percy]

If you find that sort of thing interesting, you might enjoy the biography of Samuel Steward. 

 

Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade by Justin Spring

 

Steward was completely unknown to me before reading the bio, although his pseudonyms Phil Andros and Phil Sparrow rang a bell.  The book provides fascinating detail of homosexual life in America – and to a lesser extent Europe – prior to Stonewall.  Steward’s life intersected with many artistic giants of the 20^th century. 

 

After reading the biography, I can’t say I cared for the man, but I appreciate that he was authentically and unapologetically subversive for his time.  In his late 40s he abandoned his career as a professor of English at DePaul and took up a new one as a tattoo artist.  Nearing that age myself, I can appreciate what a monumental undertaking such a drastic change would have been.

 

The book came to mind because of your Oscar Wilde reference.  At one point in his life, Steward sought an interview and meeting with Alfred Douglas, purportedly a one-time lover of Wilde, because he wanted his mouth "to go where Oscar's had gone."  That pretty much sums up what you’d be getting into if you read the bio.

[Aditus]

I don't think my road will ever be straight and narrow, (I might be biased though), but this reminded me of news we would find in the tabloids wouldn't they be very old news.

To Samuel Steward, he seems to be crude but honest. The former I like not so much, the latter immensely.

[Thorn Wilde]

I though oscar went for younger guys?

 

He did, when he was older, because he romanticised the Greek ideal of a young man and his mentor. But in 1882, Oscar was a young man himself, so the romance would have been in being with an older man.

[Thorn Wilde]

Weird. I accidentally made an empty post. No idea how that happened... Is there any way to delete this?

Edited September 25, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Sasha Distan]

Bro, if anyone was going to share this information, it so had to be you. 

[GrimIsaac]

Bro, if anyone was going to share this information, it so had to be you. 

I second this non-existing motion

[Irritable1]

Just found this topic.

 

 

 

At one point in his life, Steward sought an interview and meeting with Alfred Douglas, purportedly a one-time lover of Wilde, because he wanted his mouth "to go where Oscar's had gone." 

 

Seems reasonable. I certainly can't think of a better rationale for associating with Douglas 

 

Edit: not buying the original proposition though, awesome though it would be. O.W. comes across as so fastidious to me somehow. And a bit snobbish.  Boinking some American guy... I don't know.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Irritable1

[Bill W]

Just think of how poor the literary world would be without the contributions of gays and lesbians throughout history.  It's a shame that they probably had to hide part of their genius, due to the prevailing view of their sexual orientation.