Secret historian: the life and times of Samuel Steward, professor, tattoo artist, and sexual renegade

the life and times of Samuel Steward, professor, tattoo artist, and sexual renegade

Hardcover

English language

Published Aug. 17, 2010 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

ISBN:
978-0-374-28134-2
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OCLC Number:
459210127

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5 stars (2 reviews)

Drawn from the secret, never-before-seen diaries, journals, and sexual records of the novelist, poet, and university professor Samuel M. Steward, Secret Historian is a sensational reconstruction of one of the more extraordinary hidden lives of the twentieth century. An intimate friend of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Thornton Wilder, Steward maintained a secret sex life from childhood on, and documented these experiences in brilliantly vivid (and often very funny) detail.

After leaving the world of academe to become Phil Sparrow, a tattoo artist on Chicago's notorious South State Street, Steward worked closely with Alfred Kinsey on his landmark sex research. During the early 1960s, Steward changed his name and identity once again, this time to write exceptionally literate, upbeat pro-homosexual pornography under the name of Phil Andros.

Until today he has been known only as Phil Sparrow―but an extraordinary archive of his papers, lost since his death in 1993, …

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Review of 'Secret historian: the life and times of Samuel Steward, professor, tattoo artist, and sexual renegade' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Sam Steward is inspiring for having lived on the fringes of society on his own terms, yet I also found myself gradually saddened by his growing isolation and frustration in the later decades of his story. An incredible biography that taught me so much and also made me reflect quite a bit on my own life.

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Subjects

  • Steward, Samuel M
  • Authors, American -- 20th century -- Biography
  • Poets, American -- 20th century -- Biography
  • Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Biography
  • Gay authors -- United States -- Biography
  • College teachers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography
  • Tattoo artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Biography
  • Sexology -- Research -- United States -- History -- 20th century
  • Pornography -- United States -- History -- 20th century