Southern Fried Pride

Book excerpt: In Southern Fried Pride, writer and journalist Art Greenwald shares his “best of,” a collected works of comical, serious and sometimes bittersweet essays, in-depth features and thought-provoking interviews. Part autobiographical, the ex-Pennsylvanian showcases some of the legends, personalities, places and events that have transformed South Florida into a thrilling, thriving, and vibrant gay mecca. Greenwald serves up a mixed bag of stories, first chronicling his life in “Tales from the Gayborhood.” He reveals his hormone-drenched player days in the ever-changing gay club scene while coping with aging in a youth-centric culture. He takes readers on a wild, nostalgic trip with his candid Club Copa confessional and tribute to a bygone era. Toss in an endless love story among friends, a horrifying dance with death at a stripper bar, a cocaine addict’s struggle to stay clean, and a famed collector with his lifelong love and devotion for Judy Garland. The author also profiles community activists and leaders who have carved out powerful legacies, making a difference and inspiring pride with their courage, sacrifice, and perseverance. Greenwald additionally pens his chaotic struggle for the self-acceptance of his sexuality from his time in his native Altoona, Pennsylvania, through his college days at Penn State, and then, as he finally settles in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His opinion pieces and gay-intensive quotes tackle taboo topics with straight, in-your-face honesty, shattering stereotypes while exposing rank hypocrisy. Reading his quirky, tongue-in-cheek pieces will sometimes lighten your daily load, and other times provoke you, but will always invigorate you. Southern Fried Pride will leave both gay and straight readers laughing, smiling, feeling nostalgic and occasionally sad, though hopefully with a more humane understanding of the gay experience and its joys, triumphs, heartbreaks, and struggles.