Happy birthday, astronaut William Pailes!

William Pailes, born June 26, 1952 in Hackensack, New Jersey, went into space once aboard Atlantis (STS-51-J) as payload specialist in October 1985. He spent four days in space before returning to Earth.

Celebrating Pride Month: Gaysweek, first gay and lesbian weekly publication

 

In 1977, Alan Bell, a black gay publisher, began publishing Gaysweek, the first gay and lesbian newspaper in the US.  It started as an 8-page weekly tabloid, and when it ended in 1979 after 104 issues, it was a 24-page, two-color publication.  

At the time, it was one of only three gay weeklies in the world. 

A portion of the Gaysweek archives are kept at Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. 

Alan Bell short

Alan Parsons Project releases "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" 1976

The Alan Parsons Project released its debut album Tales of Mystery and Imagination June 25, 1976. The songs and music are based upon the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.

It generated two singles (The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, which reached #37 on the Billboard Hot 100, and The Raven, which reached #80. 

Despite its humble beginnings, the album has gained a cult following and has been listed on Classic Rock magazine's 50 Albums That Build Prog Rock.

"Robot Monster" released 1953

Best known for being notoriously bad, Robot Monster was released in theaters across the US June 25, 1953. Produced on a miniscule budget, the movie follows a monster in a gorilla suit and a TV set with antenna, who has eliminated everybody on Earth, except for one family. It seems the Robot Monster had feelings for the family's teenaged daughter.

It has been included on many of the 'worst movie' lists, but has gained a cult following.  

Celebrating Pride Month: University of Michigan, the first LGBT office, 1971

In 1971, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, established The Spectrum, an LGBT office, the first of its kind in the US.  It continues to provide help for gay and trans students for coming out, but also helps educate cis-gendered.  

Read more here:

https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2012/08/15/top-10-trans-friendly-colleges-and-universities?page=0,7

"Logan's Run" released 1976

Logan's Run, the Saul David production based on the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, was released June 23, 1976. It starred Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Peter Ustinov, and Farrah Fawcett(-Majors) and was directed by Michael Anderson.  

It depicts a utopian, hedonistic society where every wish can be fulfilled, but at a cost.  When a person reaches the age of 30, they are executed.  

Reviews were all over the place when Logan's Run was released.  Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars, but Gene Siskel gave it 0 out of 4 stars.  However, it was a success at the box office, earning $2.5M in its first 5 days of release, which was substantial for that time.  

It was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.  There were no visual effects nominations that year, because the committee didn't consider any of the movies to attain the level needed for accolades.  The Academy reversed the decision and awarded Special Achievement Awards in Visual Effects to Logan's Run and King Kong.  The visual effects committee resigned in protest.

It won 6 Saturn Awards (see my post from Jan 15, 2025).

Celebrating Pride Month: Robert Duncan, out gay poet

Robert Edward Duncan, born January 7, 1919 in Oakland, California, is a noted openly gay poet, one of the first to acknowledge his homosexuality.  As a sophomore at the University of California at Berkeley in 1938, he began a relationship with grad student Ned Fahs. It ended when Fahs married a woman in 1941, but Duncan continued to write poetry about Fahs for another twenty years. 

He was drafted in 1941 but declared his homosexuality to get discharged.   In 1944. he had a relationship with abstract expressionist painter, Robert De Niro, Sr., father of actor Robert De Niro. Also, in 1944, he wrote an essay "The Homosexual in Society" where he compared the plight of gays with that of African Americans and Jews. It is considered to be a pioneering treatise on the experience of gays in American society.  

Duncan returned to the San Francisco area after WWII, and in 1950, he met artist Jess Collins.  In January 1951, they took marriage vows and moved in together.  They remained together until Duncan passed away 37 years later in February 1988.