Michael Walker's Blog
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Works by Ron
Nyswaner |
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Blue Days, Black Nights: A Memoir (2004) -- Finalist Lambda Literary 2004 LGBT Autobiography/Memoir Awards
A wrong turn down a one-way street in the shadow of the Sunset Strip's Chateau Marmont leads Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, Soldier's Girl) on a journey that will nearly drown him in the intoxicating, impulsive, maddening, tragic, and transformative nature of love. Despite the success of his latest film, Nyswaner has been fighting depression and contemplating self-destruction. "I don't want a mediocre, empty life," he tells his psychiatrist-acupuncturist-herbalist after half-heartedly attempting to hang himself with a belt. Then, on a trip from his home in upstate New York to Los Angeles, he meets and falls for world-weary Johann, a Latin-quoting, leather-clad hustler with a vague European accent. In the next year Johann will teach him many things: how to make a crack pipe out of a soda can, how to come down from a crystal meth binge, how to walk down a city street as if he owns it, how to beg for "more" in Hungarian, and how to lose onself utterly in reckless passion. If he can survive it, loving Johann might be his salvation.
Screenplays
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Mrs.
Soffel (1984) - The Prince of Pennsylvania (1988)
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Gross
Anatomy (1989)
aka A Cut Above - Love Hurts (1991)
- Philadelphia (1993)
- Soldier's Girl (2003)
See also:
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Paws and Reflect: Exploring the Bond Between Gay Men and Their Dogs
(2000) by Neil Plakcy and Sharon Sakson
The truth is, our dogs are our children. We don’t have to straighten their teeth or send them to college, but we love them, feed them, groom them, sometimes even dress them up, just like we'd do with little boys and girls. Most dog owners, straight or gay, would probably feel the same way.
Even though advances in society and social norms have made it more common for gay men to have human children, for many gay men, our dogs play an even more important role in our lives. They love us unconditionally; they comfort us when we are in pain; and because it's most likely that we will outlive them, they teach us to cope with loss.
We decided to parlay our backgrounds-- Neil as a gay writer and dog owner, Sharon as a journalist, dog show judge and award-winning breeder of Whippets and Brussels Griffons-- to explore this connection. We asked talented writers to contribute their thoughts, and Sharon interviewed celebrities and ordinary men about their relationships with their dogs.
With contributions by Alistair McCartney, Andy Zeffer, Brian McCormick, Charles Busch, David Mizejewski, Donald Hardy, Edward Albee, G. Russell Overton, Hal Campbell, J.R.G. DeMarco, Jack Morton, Jay Quinn, Jeffrey Ricker, Jonathan Caouette, Justin Rudd, Kevin Anderson, Lev Raphael, Matthew Phillips, Michael Wallerstein, Neil Plakcy, Randall McCormick, Randy Allgaier, Ron Nyswaner, Sharon Sakson, Stephen Kwielchek, Steve Berman, and Victor Banis