Dirk Vanden (born ''Richard Fullmer''; May 7, 1933 – October 21, 2014), was an American author and illustrator. He is considered the first gay Mormon writer and has been called a "pioneer of gay literature" by the ''Lambda Literary Review''. A graduate of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, his work appeared in ''ONE Magazine'', ''Vector'', and ''California Scene'', as well as in ''Latter-Gay Saints: An Anthology of Gay Mormon Fiction''. His novel ''I Want It All'' was the first book to explore

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

's leather subculture. His greatest success was his ''All'' trilogy: ''I Want It All,'' ''All or Nothing,'' and ''All Is Well.''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. Vanden received a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Erotica in 2012 for the revision of this trilogy, ''All Together.'' In spite of his success, Vanden, together with

Richard Amory Richard Amory (October 18, 1927, Halfway, OR – August 1, 1981, San Jose, CA), born Richard Wallace Love, was an American writer. He obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology from Ohio State University, a M.A. in Spanish from San Francisco State U ...

, was highly critical of the way editor Earl Kemp and publisher

Greenleaf Classics William Lawrence Hamling (June 14, 1921 – June 29, 2017) was an American writer, science fiction fan, and publisher of both science fiction digests, and adult magazines and books, active from the late 1930s until 1975. He was a lifelong me ...

treated his work, citing Greenleaf's non-payment of royalties, employment of editors not familiar with gay literature, and insistence on inserting graphic sex into his books as examples of their heavy-handed approach to LGBT publishing. He died of cancer at his home in Carmichael, California in October 2014.

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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanden, Dirk 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 2014 deaths University of Utah alumni 1933 births American illustrators 21st-century American novelists Lambda Literary Award winners American gay writers Place of birth missing 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American LGBT people