Michael Denneny

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Michael Denneny
Born(1943-03-02)March 2, 1943
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
DiedApril 12/15, 2023 (aged 80)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Occupation
  • Editor
  • literary consultant
  • publisher
  • writer
LanguageEnglish
Alma mater University of Chicago

Michael Denneny (March 2, 1943 April 12 [1] [2] or 15, [3] [4] 2023) was an American editor and author. He was one of the first openly gay editors at a major publishing house.

Contents

Early life

Denneny was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and grew up in Pawtucket nearby. His father Leo was a mill worker and later worked for the Postal Service. [3] His mother Dorothy (née Wilkinson) also worked in a mill. [3] He had two brothers, Johnny who died from cancer in 1986 and his surviving brother, Joey. Joe described Pawtucket as "gloomy" and said that Michael "retreated into books at an early age". [3]

Education and career

Denneny graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor's degree in history in 1967. [3] He then continued with graduate studies at the school's Committee on Social Thought under philosopher Hannah Arendt. [3] On and off, he became the assistant of Arendt and was later an informal assistant of Michel Foucault as well. [5]

Denneny moved to New York City in 1971 after the Stonewall riots and was shortly thereafter hired at Macmillan. [4] There he published a book version of Ntozake Shange’s feminist play for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf . [3]

In 1976, he and Chuck Ortleb started the gay literary magazine Christopher Street . [3] [4] [2] [1] According to Denneny, shortly before it started publishing several top gay men who were not open about their gayness subtly threatened to end his career if his name appeared in the magazine. [3] In 1977, Denneny was fired by Macmillan when it was learned that he was going to publish The Homosexuals by Alan Ebert which contained interviews with gay men. [4] He was briefly rehired to present the book at a sales conference because it was subsequently to be published due to legal obligations, but when his connection to Christopher Street became apparent he was fired again. [3] [4]

During this time he worked on the gay publication the New York Native in addition to Christopher Street. After applying for a large number of jobs at Manhattan publishers while openly admitting to being gay, [3] in 1977 he was hired at St. Martin's Press, and wrote two books of his own, Lovers and Decent Passions. [4]

In 1987 Denneny started the LGBT Stonewall Inn Editions paperback imprint at St. Martin’s, the first time a major publishing house had done such, and republished many books that had appeared previously in hard cover. [3]

Denneny worked at St. Martin's until 2002 aside from two years at Crown Publishing Group, and subsequently left to become a freelance editor and consultant. [4]

In 2002, Denneny won the Michele Karlsberg Leadership Award. [6]

Death

Denneny's death in April 2023 at his home in Manhattan [3] was unexpected, [2] which his brother Joe said was most likely due to a heart attack. [3] He was found on April 15 but the exact day of his death (between the 12th and 15th) is not known.

Bibliography

Major works edited or published

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References

  1. 1 2 Emell Adolphus (April 17, 2023). "Michael Denneny, Editor of 'And the Band Played On,' Dead at 80". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Terry Gross (April 21, 2023). "Remembering Michael Denneny, an editor who championed LGBTQ voices". NPR. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Richard Sandomir (April 25, 2023). "Michael Denneny, 80, Dies; Editor Created Outlets for Gay Literature". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 29, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harrison Smith (April 20, 2023). "Michael Denneny, a dean of gay publishing, dies at 80". Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023.
  5. Frédéric Martel, Global Gay, MIT Press, 2019 (p. 74).
  6. "The Michele Karlsberg Leadership Award". The Publishing Triangle . Retrieved May 22, 2024.