Newspaper Page Text
The cose of
Iheacddental
author
While laid up
with a back in
jury, Mabel
Maney decided
to write a lesbian
parody ofNancy
Drew books.
Now, her mysteries have their own loyal
following. PAGE 33
PLEASE RECYCLE
TAKING PRIDE IN OUR CULTURE
Awinler
wonderland
in Atlanta
The holidays
offer cultural
adventures in
theater, music
and special
events, such as
"The Nut
cracker" staged by the Atlanta Ballet's
John McFall (pictured). PAGE 33
DECEMBER 7/1995
How to find, make and wrap the ideal present for that
hard-fo-please person on your holiday list
by DON JOHNSTON
As the holidays draw nigh, it's becoming in
creasingly obvious that giving another dreidel
simply won't suffice as a Chanukah gift this year.
And that sweater you gave your lover last year
conveyed about as much warmth and meaning as
the electric hedge trimmer you received in return.
And to top it all off, your best friend still hasn't
forgiven you for using enough wrapping paper
for last year's gifts to effectively wipe out
Germany's Black Forest.
But this year it will be different. This time, each
gift will be fraught with sincerity and exude your
unique sense of style and humor. And it won't lead
to credit card bills that last well past Memorial
Day. At least, it won't once you finish this article.
Gift giving is
one of the toughest
things about the
holidays. What a person gives says as much about
the giver as it does the recipient. But for Russ
Tumkett, a graduate student at Florida State Uni
versity, originally from Bainbridge, Ga., that is
exactly why gift giving isn't tough.
"I tend not to give extravagant gifts. I prefer
to give gifts with meaning, and usually extrava
gant gifts are a sign of insincerity," he explains.
Tumkett likes to think about the relationship
he has with the person and then find a gift that
matches that bond. "Something like a nice jour
nal, something bound, is really good. I'm also into
sun catchers right now or a nice print."
But what about giving something to a new
friend or lover. Tumkett has a new beau, so what
does he plan to get him? "I'm not sure, but it won't
be any different than the other gifts." Remaining
sensible about what gift giving is all about,
Tumkett simply rejects the notion that a present
should be expensive, thereby becoming an exten
sion of how much the recipient is loved by the
giver.
Marge Kennedy, a confessed
shopaholic, is just the opposite. "I
just love to give gifts that are pissy. I
mean stuff that is really over-the-top,"
she says. And Kennedy invariably turns
to the Neiman Marcus catalog for her
ideas.'"I mean these people invented
pissy," she cooes. "There's a $900,000 neck
lace in here they describe as 'perfect for any
New Year's Eve party.'" For $900,000
the necklace better come with its
own New Year's Eve party.
Kennedy says Neiman Marcus
always has a signature gift in its
catalog that brings the browser to
the brink of capitalistic excess and
then kicks them right over the preci
pice.
"This year there's a jet that you
can name," Kennedy says, laugh
ing. "The bidding starts at
$100,000." She explains that shop
pers can vie for the right to name a
jumbo jet whatever they wish. In addition to
that, the highest bidder also gets two first-class
tickets on any international flight they want to
take for a year. According to Kennedy, "That's
just too pissy."
> Continued on Page 15
by WALTER WOODS
Atlanta—A gay Marietta man
is making a bid to become the First
openly gay candidate elected to
the Georgia state Senate. Gary L
Harris, 40, co-ow ner of L & H Op
tical in Ansley Mall, is one of a
handful of candidates running for
the seat vacated by Cobb County
Republican Johnny Isakson in a
special election Dec. IS. ■ 1
"It's an excellent opportunity
for an openly gay candidate to get
into the statehouse," Ha 11 is iaid of
his campaign.
Isakson, who ran for governor
against Go\. Zell Miller in 1990,
Gaiy L Harris
was forced to give up his state Senate seat last month when he
announced a bid tor Sam Nunn's U S Senate .seat SmSgBl
Isakson's vacated Senate seat repiesents state Sen District
21, which includes much of Cobb Countv, including Marietta,
the Delk Road area and most of the Cherokee-Cobb county
border '• • • pjlj|Si
r % >- Continued on Paged
Black gay church calls
for boycott of local bars
by WAITER WtVU*
UUntn—A Hi uirh-hriseJ group
tag and plans to start picketing lo
cal gay bars that they say are
unwelcoming to blacks or don't do
enough to support the black com
munity.
The 150-member Redefined
1 aith Community Fellowship
Church, a gay and lesbian Afncan-
Amencan church in Atlanta, and its
pastor, Rev 'U- Ma-Hee, are calling
for a boycott of Burkhart’s Pub
l/iretta's Disco, the Marquette, The
Otherside and Traxx
Ma-Hee, a former campaign
worker for Mayor Bill Campbell
who has been involved with the
City Council's Gay and Lesbian
Public Safety Task Force, charged
that the white bars, Burkhart's
and! he Otherside arc owned by
racists who don't want blacks in
their clubs.
"The Otheiside has a 'black
night' on Wc 11- -day, but it's no
torious within the black comm u-
mty that die staff, management
and pations call it 'Nigger
Nighv said Ma-Hee. "On any
other night African-American
gays and lesbians aren't wel
come"
Beverly M dtaon, owner of
The Otheiside, strongly denied
ever using racist speechabouther
> Continued on Page 6