Raymond Luczak

Book Description Assembly Required: Notes from a Deaf Gay Life
Raymond Luczak shares stories from his days growing up as a deaf gay man in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and learning signs in secret, trying to follow the music on the radio in order to be cool like his hearing classmates, and feeling ... (more)clueless whenever gay cultural icons like the Village People, Queen, and Bette Midler were promoted in his small hometown. After he graduated from high school and enrolled at Gallaudet University, the world’s only university for Deaf people, he discovered gay literature and came out soon after. He eventually got involved with Deaf theater collaborators, educators, and sign language interpreters, from which his worldview is substantially reshaped on issues of identity, literacy, technology, and family. Assembly Required offers a rare in-depth glimpse into what it means to be a Deaf gay man who lives between the Deaf and hearing worlds. Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader What does it mean to be a Deaf GLBT person in the world today? Over 85 Deaf and hearing people from all over the world share their stories, interviews, poems, and more in this anthology. Straight people also share their experiences. Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader features rarely-heard “voices” such as a Deaf Ethiopian bisexual woman, a hard-of-hearing intersexed transgender musician, a Deaf ex-gay man, a Deaf lesbian witch, a Deaf gay Asian, a Deaf lesbian FTM rock ‘n roll drummer, an older British non-signing deaf man, a Deaf black gay HIV-positive man, a hearing partner of a Deaf transman, a Deaf gay Hispanic man, a Deaf black lesbian tomfemme pagan, a Deaf gay hearing-aid fetishist, a Deaf Hindu lesbian, a DeafBlind Jewish gay man, a Deaf straight woman with two mommies, a Deaf leather titleholder, and a Deaf lesbian with an identical twin Deaf lesbian sister. Countries include Canada, Chile, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Russia, and South Africa. Subjects cover coming out, family, identity, relationships, community, and activism. About the Author Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of ten books, including the Lambda Literary Award-nominated anthology Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay & Lesbian Reader and Assembly Required: Notes from a Deaf Gay Life. Number seven in a hearing family of nine children, he lost most of his hearing at the age of seven months due to a bout of double pneumonia. After high school graduation, Luczak went on to Gallaudet University, in Washington, DC, where he earned a B.A. in English. He learned American Sign Language (ASL) and became involved with the deaf community. Sixteen of his stage plays have been performed in three countries. His tenth book, Men with Their Hands: A Novel will publish later this year. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.