Dirk Vanden Explained

Dirk Vanden (born Richard Fullmer; May 7, 1933 – October 21, 2014),^[1] was an American author and illustrator. He is considered the first gay Mormon writer^[2] and has been called a "pioneer of gay literature" by the Lambda Literary Review. A graduate of the University of Utah, his work appeared in ONE Magazine, Vector,^[3] and California Scene,^[4] as well as in Latter-Gay Saints: An Anthology of Gay Mormon Fiction.^[2] His novel I Want It All was the first book to explore San Francisco's leather subculture.^[5] His greatest success was his All trilogy: I Want It All, All or Nothing, and All Is Well.^[6] Vanden received a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Erotica in 2012 for the revision of this trilogy, All Together.^[7]

In spite of his success, Vanden, together with Richard Amory, was highly critical of the way editor Earl Kemp and publisher Greenleaf Classics treated his work, citing Greenleaf's non-payment of royalties, employment of editors not familiar with gay literature,^[4] and insistence on inserting graphic sex into his books as examples of their heavy-handed approach to LGBT publishing.^[2]

He died of cancer at his home in Carmichael, California in October 2014.^[1]

Bibliography

• To Themselves Unknown
• Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son (published as Who Killed Queen Tom?, 1969)
• Hatters and Hares (published as The Leather Queens, 1969; re-released as Down the Rabbit Hole)
• The Stag in the Tree (published as Leather, 1969)
• Exile in Paradise (published as Twin Orbs, 1969)
• I Want It All (1969)
• All Or Nothing (1970)
• All Is Well (1971)
• All of Me: A Gay Mystery (2010)
• It Was Too Soon Before…: The Unlikely Life, Untimely Death, and Unexpected Rebirth of Gay Pioneer, Dirk Vanden (2012)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Remembering Dirk Vanden. Gunn. Drewey Wayne. November 6, 2014. Lambda Literary Review. 2015-11-28.
2. News: Writer sees growing acceptance of LGBT within Mormon faith. Stack. Peggy Fletcher. August 14, 2013. The Salt Lake Tribune. 2014-09-24.
3. Web site: Dirk Vanden: Pioneer Of Gay Literature. Gunn. Drewey Wayne. August 10, 2011. Lambda Literary Review. 2014-09-24.
4. Book: Vanden, Dirk. It Was Too Soon Before…: The Unlikely Life, Untimely Death, and Unexpected Rebirth of Gay Pioneer, Dirk Vanden. 2012. Lethe Press. 151–156. 9781590213544. 2014-09-24.
5. Web site: Sadomasochistic Literature. 2002. glbtq.com. 2014-09-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20140606011059/http://www.glbtq.com/literature/sadom_lit,2.html. 2014-06-06. dead.
6. Gunn, Drewey Wayne (2013), "The Heroic Quest: Dirk Vanden's All Trilogy," 1960s Gay Pulp Fiction: The Misplaced Heritage, ed. Gunn and Jaime Harker, 268-91.
7. The Next Great LGBT Writers: Lambda Announces This Year's Winners. Grindley. Lucas. June 5, 2012. The Advocate. 2014-09-24.