Ron Jackson Suresha is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

anthologist In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

of books centering on gay and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

men's subcultures, particularly the Bear community.

Biography

Suresha was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, and attended grade school in the northwest suburb of Oak Park. Suresha and his husband (styled "husbear"), Rocco Russo, were legally married in

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

, in October 2004, and received a Connecticut civil union one year later. They lived until 2011 in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

and now live in

New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is in western Connecticut, north of Danbury, on the banks of the Housatonic River, and it shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is th ...

, where Suresha serves as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

. He has been an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church since 1975. Suresha's nonfiction anthology, ''Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions'' (2002), includes 25 dialogues with 57 bear-identified men and bear-lovers from around the world, such as comedian Bruce Vilanch, porn model Jack Radcliffe, and '' Survivor'' star Richard Hatch. In the introduction, Suresha asserts that ''Bears on Bears'' is "the first interview book ... compiled primarily from online interactions" using

online chat Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time transmission of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Ther ...

technology. A bisexual-identified man and bi rights advocate, Suresha edited, with Peter Chvany, the nonfiction book ''Bi Men : Coming Out Every Which Way'' (2006). Suresha's two bisexual men's anthologies were named finalists in the 2006

Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature The Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Literature is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, that awards books with bisexual content. The award can be separated into three categories: bisexual fiction, bisexual nonf ...

. In 2008, Suresha edited for '' Journal of Bisexuality'' a special issue commemorating the sexagennial (60th) anniversary of the publication of '' Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', commonly known as the Kinsey Report, as ''Bisexual Perspectives on the Life and Work of Alfred C. Kinsey,'' which was named a finalist in the 2008

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted ...

in Bisexual Literature. That year, Suresha cofounded Bear Bones Books, an imprint of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

publisher

Lethe Press Lethe Press is an American book publishing company based in Maple Shade, New Jersey.Nasreddin Nasreddin () or Nasreddin Hodja (other variants include: Mullah Nasreddin Hooja, Nasruddin Hodja, Mullah Nasruddin, Mullah Nasriddin, Khoja Nasriddin) (1208-1285) is a character in the folklore of the Muslim world from Arabia to Central Asia ...

, '' The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin'' which was named a

Storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pr ...

World Honor Title in 2012 in the adult collections category, and which received a 2013 Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award. With Scott McGillivray, Suresha compiled and wrote a 2012 photobook, ''Fur: The Love of Hair'', for German publisher

Bruno Gmünder Verlag Bruno's GmbH is a German retailer of products targeted toward gay men; it was originally founded in 1981 as Bruno Gmünder Verlag, a book publishing house. Bruno Gmünder Verlag was dissolved in 2017, with the retail division becoming Bruno's a ...

, which received a Rainbow Book Award. In 2014, Suresha edited an anthology of poetry written by and for men of the bear community, ''Hibernation and Other Poems by Bear Bards'', which was named a Rainbow Book Award winner in both the LGBTQ Poetry and Bisexuality categories. In 2014 he published a second collection of Nasreddin stories, ''Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin'', named a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Suresha identified as a gay man "since puberty" until his forties. After

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and several other midlife crises, Suresha came out as bisexual. Suresha says that this second coming out was "much more provocative and positive than my first arduous teenage process of self-discovery as gay, but just as much a rollercoaster." In September 2019, in coordination with an exhibit at the New Milford (Conn.) Historical Society & Museum, Suresha presented an evening lecture on

Florence Maybrick Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick (3 September 1862 – 23 October 1941) was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick. Early life Florence Maybrick was born Florence Elizabet ...

, the American woman wrongly accused of poisoning her British husband, entitled ''The Mystery of the Dress: The Cat Woman of Gaylordsville.'' Suresha two years later brought proposals before the Town Council of New Milford and the Town of Kent Selectmen, marking the 80th anniversary of Maybrick's October 1941 death in New Milford and burial in South Kent and noting her exoneration; both proposals were accepted, and on October 23, 2021, both towns observed ''Florence Chandler Maybrick Day.''

References

External links

Ron Suresha
(website / blog)
Bear Bones Books

Mullah Nasruddin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suresha, Ron Bisexual men Bisexual rights activists Bisexual writers Jewish American writers American LGBT rights activists American LGBT writers LGBT people from Michigan American non-fiction writers Living people Bear (gay culture) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews

Biography

See also

References

External links