Jim Provenzano (born December 6, 1961) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, playwright,

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and currently an editor with the ''

Bay Area Reporter The ''Bay Area Reporter'' is a free weekly newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''.

Life and work

Born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, Provenzano was raised in

Ashland, Ohio Ashland is a city in and the county seat of Ashland County, Ohio, United States, 66 miles southwest of Cleveland and 82 miles northeast of Columbus. The population was 20,362 at the 2010 census. It is the center of the Ashland Micropolitan S ...

and attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...

from 1979–80 as a theater major, a summer internship at Porthouse Theatre in

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

, where he performed the title role in a 1980 production of The Who's musical ''Tommy''. After transferring to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1981, he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in dance in 1985. While a student, he created stage works and video adaptations of dances, performed in works by fellow students and guest teachers Mark Taylor, Stephen Koester, Terry Creach. He received summer scholarships from the Dayton Ballet and Bill Evans Dance Company at

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

. In 1985-1986 he lived in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

and worked and toured with the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy. He also directed two

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

plays, ''Cowboy Mouth'' and ''Action'' as well as original performance works, in his rented expansive loft with theater seats. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1986, he performed with various modern dance choreographers, including Steve Gross and Bill Cratty, touring with Cratty's company for a year, and at The Yard on Martha's Vineyard in 1987. Provenzano created his own dance, music and performance works from 1987–92 in New York and performed at

Franklin Furnace Franklin Furnace, also known as the Franklin Mine, is a famous mineral location for rare zinc, iron, manganese minerals in old mines in Franklin, New Jersey, United States. This locale produced more species of minerals (over 300) and more differ ...

, P.S. 122, Dance Theatre Workshop, Highways in Santa Monica, and several other venues. In 1988, he directed a New Jersey production of ''As Is''. With a fellowship in Interdisciplinary Arts, he wrote, composed and set-designed the musical, ''Under the River'', set in the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

's PATH station. It played at the Ohio Theatre in September 1998, produced with Theatre Tweed. In 1989 he began working as the publisher's assistant for ''

OutWeek ''OutWeek'' was a gay and lesbian weekly news magazine published in New York City from 1989 to 1991. During its two-year existence, ''OutWeek'' was widely considered the leading voice of AIDS activism and the initiator of a cool new sensibility in ...

'' magazine and also contributed his first news and arts stories for editors

Michelangelo Signorile Michelangelo Signorile (; born December 19, 1960) is an American journalist, author and talk radio host. His radio program is aired each weekday across the United States and Canada on Sirius XM Radio and globally online. Signorile was editor- ...

, Sarah Pettit, and

Gabriel Rotello Douglas Gabriel Rotello (born February 9, 1963) is an American musician, writer and filmmaker. He created New York's ''Downtown Divas'' revues in the 1980s, was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of ''OutWeek'' magazine, became the first openly ga ...

. In 1990, he became the editor of the publication's offshoot ''Hunt'', an entertainment weekly, before both publications folded in July 1991. Many of his former coworkers, including

Dale Peck Dale Peck (born 1967) is an American novelist, literary critic, and columnist. His 2009 novel, '' Sprout'', won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children's/Young Adult literature, and was a finalist for the Stonewall Book Award in the Children's ...

, Troy Masters and Walter Armstrong went on to continue publishing journalism and novels. During that time, he was also a member of both ACT UP and

Queer Nation Queer Nation is an LGBTQ activist organization founded in March 1990 in New York City, by HIV/AIDS activists from ACT UP. The four founders were outraged at the escalation of anti-gay violence on the streets and prejudice in the arts and media ...

, participating in protests for both organizations. He also wrote freelance arts features for '' Frontiers'', '' The Advocate'', '' High Performance'' and ''

San Francisco Sentinel The ''San Francisco Sentinel'' is an online newspaper serving the LGBT communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally a weekly print periodical, the ''Sentinel'' covers local San Francisco politics, news and social events, and internatio ...

'', including interviews with

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

Chita Rivera Chita Rivera (born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson; January 23, 1933), is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in ''West Side Story'', Velma Kelly in ''Chic ...

, and

Paul Bartel Paul Bartel (August 6, 1938 – May 13, 2000) was an American actor, writer and director. He was perhaps most known for his 1982 hit black comedy '' Eating Raoul'', which he wrote, starred in and directed. Bartel appeared in over 90 movies and ...

. Provenzano moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

after visiting in 1992, when he was offered a position as an assistant editor for the

. He completed a language certificate at Florence's Scuola Leonardo da Vinci in 1995. In 1997, Provenzano completed a master of arts degree in English/creative writing at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

. In 1996 then-''Bay Area Reporter'' editor Mike Salinas asked him to write a sports column to cover the LGBT athletics community. Among the publication's first sports writers was

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was star ...

cofounder

Tom Waddell Tom Waddell (born Thomas Flubacher; November 1, 1937 – July 11, 1987) was an American physician, decathlete who competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and founder of the Gay Olympics (later known as the '' Gay Games''). Early life Waddell was b ...

Sports Complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

was published weekly until 2006. The column was internationally syndicated from 2004–06. Among the topics covered were the controversies of the California AIDSRide, financial controversies and accomplishments of the

and Outgames, as well as interviews with, and articles about

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and lesbian athletes, including Esera Tuaolo, Jerry Smith,

Glenn Burke Glenn Lawrence Burke (November 16, 1952 – May 30, 1995) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979. He was the first MLB player to come out as gay, announcing it in 1982 after ...

David Kopay David Marquette Kopay (born June 28, 1942) is a former American football running back in the National Football League who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to coming out, come out as gay. Life Kopay attended Notre Dame High ...

, Billie Jean King,

Greg Louganis Gregory Efthimios Louganis (; born January 29, 1960) is an American Olympic diver, LGBT activist, and author who won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics on the springboard and platform. He is the only man and the second diver in Ol ...

, and several gay and lesbian

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

athletes. Provenzano has frequently been interviewed in print, television, radio and films for his expertise on the LGBT athletics movement. Provenzano is also the author of seven novels, most notably ''PINS'' (1999) about gay high school wrestlers. The book was included in more than a dozen college reading lists, and remained among the top ten bestselling gay fiction titles in 2000. Provenzano often trained, competed and medaled with the Golden Gate Wrestling Club from 1992 to 2006. He also competed and medaled in track and field events with the San Francisco Track & Field Club from 2003-2006. After being commissioned to adapt ''PINS'' to the stage, the work premiered at New Conservatory Theatre Center, running from August through September 2002. A Chicago staging took place in 2006. In 2003, Provenzano published ''Monkey Suits'', about gay cater-waiters in 1980s

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, and ''Cyclizen'' (2007) about a gay bicycle messenger in 1990s

, which both fictionalize his experiences in

AIDS activism Social and political activism to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, as well as to raise funds for effective treatment and care of people with AIDS (PWAs), has taken place in multiple nations across the world since the 1980s. As a disease that bega ...

. Nearly two dozen anthologies published from 1998 to 2007 include his short stories and essays. In 2005, Provenzano was asked to guest-curate the world's first gay sports exhibit, Sporting Life: GLBT Athletics and Cultural Change from the 1960s to Today for the

GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...

in San Francisco. The exhibit displayed hundreds of items from more than 40 teams, and was extended through 2006. Provenzano returned as an Editor with the ''Bay Area Reporter'' in September 2006. In May, 2010, he co-created and became editor of ''BARtab'', the ''Reporter''s (initially monthly, now weekly) LGBT nightlife guide. In March 2020, he was promoted to Arts & Entertainment Editor at the

. In December 2011, he published his fourth novel, ''Every Time I Think of You,'' about two gay teenage athletes in the 1970s, one of whom becomes paraplegic. The novel won a

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in 2012. March 20, 2014, he published ''Message of Love'', the sequel to ''Every Time I Think of You,'' where in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the lead characters Reid and Everett go through their early 1980s college years at both

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

and

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

as the AIDS epidemic approaches. The novel was selected as a Lambda Literary Award finalist in 2015. In May, 2016, he published ''Forty Wild Crushes; stories.'' In 2018, he contracted with Beautiful Dreamer Press to publish his sixth novel, ''Now I'm Here,'' with a September 2018 publication. Set mostly in rural Ohio in the 1970s and 1980s, it focuses on the lives of Joshua, a gay piano prodigy who gains fame for his piano solo version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," and his relationship with David, the son of a pumpkin farmer. In June 2020, he published audiobook adaptations of his novels ''Every Time I Think of You'' and ''Message of Love'' with narrato
Michael Wetherbee
In September 2020, his seventh novel, ''Finding Tulsa,'' was released wit

The expansive novel is the faux-memoir of gay film director Stan Grozniak, who reconnects with Lance, his teenage crush from a 1970s summer theatre production of the musical ''Gypsy.'' Through 2021, as part of the ''Bay Area Reporter''s 50th anniversary celebrations, he produced and hosted twelve monthly panels about the history of the newspaper, with dozens of current and former writers, editors, photographers and special guests. The panels are archived on the B.A.R.'
YouTube channel
In May 2022, he edited and self-published ''The Lost of New York,'' a novel written more than 50 years ago by his late uncle, John "Butch" Rigney, Jr. Provenzano is openly gay. He currently lives in

Works

Fiction

* ''PINS'' (1999) * ''Wrestling Team'' (German translation of ''PINS'', 2003) * ''Monkey Suits'' (2003) * ''Cyclizen'' (2007) * ''Every Time I Think of You'' (2011) * ''PINS; audiobook adaptation'' (2013) * ''Message of Love'' (2014) * ''Forty Wild Crushes: stories'' (2016) * ''Now I'm Here'' (2018) * ''Every Time I Think of You; audiobook adaptation'' (2020) * ''Message of Love; audiobook adaptation'' (2020) * ''Finding Tulsa'' (2020) * ''The Lost of New York'' by John Rigney, Jr. (Editor/Publisher) (2022)

Plays

* ''PINS'' (2002, adapted from his novel) * ''Bootless Cries'' (1998) * ''Under the River'' (1988)

Honors

* Lambda Literary Award finalist (Gay Romance) 2015, for the novel ''Message of Love'' * Lambda Literary Award (Gay Romance) 2012, for the novel ''Every Time I Think of You'' * Legacy Award in Journalism
Federation of Gay Games
(2006) * 100 Champions Award, Gay Games Chicago], (2006)
Bay Area Theatre Critics Award
''PINS'' (2002) * Fellowship, Interdisciplinary Arts, New Jersey Arts Council (1988)

References

Amazon.com listing

summary of reviews of the ''PINS'' stage adaptation produced in Chicago
June 2006, various publications] *
Internet Book Database listing

External links

www.jimprovenzano.com, Official Site

Author Blog

Facebook Author Page

Cyclizen blog; archive

SportsComplex.org; archive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provenzano, Jim 1961 births Living people American gay writers People from San Francisco American LGBT journalists Lambda Literary Award winners Journalists from California Journalists from New York City