Advocate Days & Other Stories
by Mark Thompson
Queer Mojo. 165 pages, $24.95
IF WE DATE the modern gay movement from the end of World War II or thereabouts, we’re about 65 years in. Writer Mark Thompson has been involved in chronicling queer history and culture for more than half of that time, first as a student journalist at San Francisco State and then working at The Advocate during its formative years in the mid-70’s until the early 90’s. Gay history is still being told, and Thompson’s conversational, short volume Advocate Days & Other Stories adds significant information to what we know. Despite the fact that there are some tough truths in this book and that it covers some dark times, Thompson’s overall outlook is affirmative, and his writing is for the most part effective.