I’m Back
i’m not sure if I still have any readers on this site anymore since I’ve been away from my postings for so long. Sorry about that. But I promised myself I wouldn’t post again until I had a chunk of my new novel written. Last week, I sent off 101 pages of THE SENSUAL MUSIC OF NEGLECT to my agent to see if they are worthy to show to publishers. I hope so. I think I’ve come up with something quite different and moving and funny. But we’ll see. I’ll keep you … ah … posted.
I’ve been up in Provincetown since June 1st - except for a brief trip back to NYC and Washington D.C. to do a couple of readings of MISSISSIPPI SISSY as well as furnish the “entertainment” to a big Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Waldorf at which we raised over a million dollars for the upcoming campaign. In NYC I did a reading at the Gay and Lesbian Center that went really well. Down in D.C. I did one at the FDIC as its featured speaker for Gay and Lesbian month.
It’s my sixth summer here in Ptown. Last night was typical of my time here. I went to see Hairspray at the local movie theatre and as I walked out I ran right into my old buddy, John Waters, who wrote and directed the original version. John is a Ptown summer denizen like me. He asked what I thought of the film. “Well, I can’t lie to you, John. I thought it was a mess. I started to hate it during Michelle Pfeiffer’s first production number and it went down hill from there. I adored the Broadway production. But this mess of a movie just made me realize how much I loved your original version.” John smiled and shrugged. “I think they did a fresh job. I liked it,” he said. “But I didn’t make this movie so you can’t hurt my feelings about it. A lot of people feel the way you feel about it, but a lot of others love it. Are you coming to my party later?” he asked, moving on to more important matters. I told him I was but first had to catch a ten o’clock performance of the Nellie Olsens, an edgy sketch comedy troupe that consists of three old NYC friends of mine. They were hilarious. Then I rode my bike to John’s party and as I walked in I was confronted with a social tableau that could only be witnessed in Ptown, which is why John and I all those like us who revel in the slightly taboo and a kind of grin-inducing incongruity summer here. Before me, as I entered his party, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Michael Cunningham and editor-in-chief of New York magazine Adam Moss were being introduced to gay porn icon Jeff Stryker. When I coupled that image with one I had earlier in the evening of my old friend Andrew Sullivan and his partner Aaron (to be married here in a month) stopping to share a few laughs with Miss Richfield, one of Ptown’s reigning drag divas, as they strolled along Commercial Street with columnist Dan Savage and his partner and their young son who are here for Family Week which started yesterday … well, it all just reminds me why I keep coming back to this most quaint of fishing villages at the very tip of Cape Cod, an end-of-the-world kind of place - geographically, not philosophically - where all are welcome.
It’s good to be back - in Ptown as well as this blog.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
WELCOME BACK!
July 30th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Kevin,
I am so glad to see your posting…I wish that I could be in Provincetown…
Like you, I love the taboo….John Waters and Kevin Sessums….awesome!
(Now I sound like a teenager…) Oh well, I can’t wait for your new book.
I am currently rereading MS SISSY as I ripped through it the first time in
one sitting…..I’m glad that you are having a great summer…..Jeana
July 30th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Hi Kevin: It is nice to have you back.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Welcome Back! I’ve been checking in regularly and glad to read you are having a good summer. Have they announced the audio book awards, yet? If not, when?
July 31st, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I still check back from time to time to see if you’ve updated. So glad I did today. You need to be taking pictures of these events and posting them! Sounds like the book is coming along, cant wait.
August 1st, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Yes, you do have a readership. I’m glad to see you’ll post again, and again. I’ve just started your book and had to put it down to read one of Eudora’s books for my monthly bookclub (picked last month without any influence from me, the only southerner and gay man in the group). It’s working out perfectly though as the voices of my childhood are amplified by her storytelling, and I’ll be perfectly primed to jump right back into your life in another few days. As a DC and NYC resident, I keep missing your readings, but I hope to hear one soon.
August 1st, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Welcome back! I, for one, missed your entries.
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
it’s good to see a post again. You deserve a break, as we all do, from time to time. I enjoyed reading about the Provincetown Party. I’ve never been to Ptown. Ernie and I dont travel a lot, since i have to work on Sundays, and he works the rest of the week.
Speaking of parties, Is that you in the dinner party scene in Tales of the City? I watched them on Logo for the first time since they came out on PBS in the 90s.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Kevin,
Was in PTown this past week as well. It is always a site to see (ran into Chad Allen, Varla Jean and Jeff Stryker). I am from Camden, AL but lived in H’burg, MS for 5 years before moving to Fort Lauderdale.
Even though I wasnt a “sissy” in school, I experienced many of the feelings you write about in the book. Thanks for putting them on paper for us. I bought a house in New Orleans earlier this year and have been spending a lot of time there…am thinking of moving there permanently. Your book has got me back in the southern mind frame.
Thanks
Ken Huff
August 5th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Hi Kevin- I just finished MS SISSY (which I loved) and am excited to find you have a blog! Please keep the posts coming!!!
August 7th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
fabulous title, fabulous title
August 11th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Hi Kevin!
I just finished reading your memoir. It was featured on the website of a book club I belong to. I also listened to the audio version of your book. You have a pleasant voice.
I’m anticipating reading your next posts (& new book).
Manny
September 25th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
Hi Kevin,
I just finished your book “Mississippi Sissy”. I read it in less than a day. It was everything I expected and then some! It certainly lived up to the hype.
I loved it!
I had to keep reminding myself that this was a memoir and not fiction. I’m recommending it to everyone I know.
This book is definitely a keeper on my bookshelf. I’ll never let it go because I know I’ll read it again someday.
DiDi( from Wisconsin)
December 9th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Sweet post.
I know you will read our page..
Thank You
December 9th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Hello the post is funny.
I like your site..
bye