By Nicholas Snow

My West, the latest release from world-renowned and celebrated author Patricia Nell Warren (of The Front Runner fame), is “a sagebrush bouquet of 47 favorites on everything from agriculture to zest, by way of cooking, ethnicity, history, politics, sexuality and other subjects.” In his foreword, noted author/filmmaker Gregory Hinton, himself a born Westerner, says the book is “a masterwork by one of our most gifted storytellers. Patricia’s deeply evocative stories will quickly transport even the most dug-in urban reader to the heartland that is the American West.”

In our exclusive interview, my good friend Patricia explained that her “core audience” is both gay and non-gay, and that for both, “the open discussion of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people in the American West, both past and present” is a new topic.

“I was inspired to do this book, by the way, in which the Autry National Center in L.A. stepped forward last year to become the first museum in the U.S. that directly addresses this subject. They did it when they put the two iconic Brokeback Mountain cowboy shirts on display in their gallery devoted to classic Western films.

Its action opened the door to producer Gregory Hinton’s ‘Out West’ program which is ongoing at the museum now, and promotes study and discussion of this theme in a really wonderful way. Gregory is also taking the ‘Out West’ series to other cities and states, mostly to museums, public libraries and other cultural institutions.”

The stories in My West are in sections which include among many Gender, Politics, Sexuality and Spirituality.  In the Gender section about native American berdaches, Patricia writes, “To understand how a Two-Spirit saw himself/herself, and how others in the tribe or band saw this person as well, a twentieth century American has to put aside all the traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs about sexuality, and even the western European non-Christian humanistic notions of sexuality.  We have to step through the looking glass, into a different world.”

In “It’s My History Too” in the Sexuality section, Patricia explains, “Though many Americans today think of the West as the phalanx of ‘red states’ on the TV map during election night, the West can surprise with its sudden shiftings of spiritual sunlight and shadow, its social landslides that can reveal unsuspected layerings of raw experience and ideological challenge. In fact, the West’s essential quirkiness has enabled all kinds of LGBT people to find something out here – from hiding places to homes. At times, we have not only survived here, but thrived here.”

In her own My West introduction, Patricia explains, “So my body of Western writing is rayed through a changing perspective over half a century – as I evolved from young hopeful college scribbler to published best-selling author. As I left Christianity to become an ever-questioning pagan. As I came out to live the life of a gay woman.”

In “Moments of Stillness” in the Zest section, Patricia gives us the perfect reason to curl up with My West: “SCW (severe communications withdrawal) is my term for what I experienced,” she explained about being isolated in a western bed & breakfast. “It’s a syndrome not yet studied by western medicine – but it does exist. Many of us live with multiple TVs in our homes; television even invades our cars now, where it compounds the uproar from radios, cell phones and CDs. Many of us spend the day with phone headsets on, or walk around with cell phones glued to our ears. We’re suffering from CA (communications addiction).”

Patricia concluded my interview by explaining, “So many people think of me as a fiction writer. But I’m also passionate about nonfiction – not just political commentary, but history as well. I love the challenge of thinking about how I have experienced Western history from childhood, and how I’ve come to have my own perspective on it.  Part of that history is how we LGBT people have been semi-hidden out there in the dust, and now we’re becoming visible.”

And for some breaking and fantastic news, My West, The Front Runner and other of Patricia’s titles will be available soon on Amazon’s Kindle.

SnowBiz Florida Agenda

Follow Nicholas Snow online at  www.Facebook.com/SnowbizNow, www.Twitter.com/SnowbizNow, and at www.SnowbizNow.com. Follow “The Power To Be Strong” HIV Testing/ Safer Sex Awareness Campaign at www.Facebook.com/PowerToBeStrong.