TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, The Harvard Business Review published a groundbreaking case review, “Is This the Right Time to Come Out?” (July-August 1993). Written by Alistair Williamson, it was the first business case review written about an openly gay individual—one in which AIDS played no part in the case—and received coast-to-coast media attention. The article went on to be cited in dozens of books and scholarly articles and brought the issue of being gay at the workplace to a whole new audience. In an effort to promote the HBR case, which was also published in an anthology, Alistair got in touch with Richard Schneider, who was then planning to publish the first issue of The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review (the original name of this magazine).
The first issue of The HGLR, Winter 1994, included Alistair’s review of James D. Woods’ The Corporate Closet: The Professional Lives of Gay Men in America (1993). He would go on to review at least one book in almost every issue through the ’90s, after which he contributed off and on until 2008. Commented Richard Schneider: “Alistair was a wonderful writer and an amazingly quick study when breaking into a new field or genre. His interests ranged far and wide, and he soon branched off from workplace issues to LGBT rights, popular culture, history and biography, gay erotica, and so on.”
At that time he returned to his home in Ottawa, Ontario, where he remained until his death on January 2, 2019, at the age of 56. For over half his life, he had been experiencing ever-worsening intestinal problems. In a June 2018 e-mail, he wrote to me about continuing problems with anemia, constant exhaustion, and the need for frequent blood transfusions. He hoped that his unremitting ill health would not get in the way of a “stack of books to dive into, and some Netflix binges.”
Alistair was born on October 21, 1962, in Campbellton, New Brunswick, and grew up in Ottawa, graduating from the University of Ottawa with a degree in commerce. He had taken the GMAT on a lark and “blew the top off the exam.” There was nothing to do but go to Harvard Business School, from which he received his MBA, after which he took a job as an editor at the Harvard Business School Press. In 1995 he became the director of Alyson Publications, a longtime publisher of gay and lesbian books in Boston (until 2010). One of his former employees remembers him as a great boss, always “lightening the moods and spirits of everyone in the office.” Alistair was avidly interested in all aspects of popular culture, including soap operas, but he also devoured serious literature and books on history and politics. He loved Broadway show tunes, was a stamp collector and photographer, and was fascinated by the British royal family. He was every used bookstore’s best customer, amassing a wide-ranging collection of well over 10,000 volumes.
After Alistair moved back to Canada, he reinvented himself, returning to the University of Ottawa for an undergraduate degree in elementary education, and then had a busy career substitute teaching in the city’s elementary school system. He had been named “Big Brother of the Year” in 1993 by the Boston Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association, and the mission of the BB/BS remained dear to his heart throughout his life. His obituary in the Ottawa Citizen requested contributions in his name to that city’s branch of this organization. Alistair is survived by his brother, other family members, and many friends in the U.S. and Canada.
Martha E. Stone is the literary editor of this magazine.
