Apr 1, 20211 min read

BAMMER and Me: Joel Tucker, The Backstreet Cafe Shooting

PODCAST—EPISODE 15: Mike interviews Joel Tucker twenty years later: one of six survivors of the horrendous Backstreet Cafe shooting in...

Mar 12, 20214 min read

Dad and Me

STORY: I grew up in a close-knit and loving family of four in Minnesota. As a child, I was always close to my mom but didn’t really know...

Dec 4, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Cliff Morrison, The First AIDS Ward (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 10: Cliff Morrison arrived in San Francisco as a nurse in the late 1970s, as AIDS was about to erupt. In 1983, while...

Nov 11, 20196 min read

The Dead, The Living, and The Inheritance

STORY: Fall is a time of sad anniversaries for me. When I tested positive for HIV in the fall of 1988, it was hardly surprising. Many sex...

Oct 30, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Life in NYC Avant Garde Theatre Scene and Stonewall

PODCAST—EPISODE 8: Mike talks with Frank Carucci, a life-long New Yorker, about working in the NYC avant-garde theatre scene, the...

Sep 29, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Edward Field, Gay Life in 1950s' NYC, (Part 3)

PODCAST—EPISODE 7: Ninety-five-year-old renowned poet Edward Field shares stories about gay life in NYC amid the social change of the...

Sep 12, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Edward Field, Gay Life after WWll (Part 2)

PODCAST—EPISODE 6: Renowned poet and author Edward Field discusses with Mike, his colorful and bohemian life after WW2, including his...

Aug 21, 20191 min read

BAMMER and Me: Edward Field, Life of a Gay Soldier in WWll (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 5: Mike Balaban interviews renowned poet and author Edward Field. At 95 years old, Edward shares his experiences as a gay...

Jun 25, 20193 min read

In Living Color

I was 14 years old in the long-ago summer of 1969. My freshman year of high school approached but my concerns were still very boyish:...