Dirk Vanden (born Richard Fullmer; May 7, 1933 – October 21, 2014), [1] was an American author and illustrator. He is considered the first gay Mormon writer [2] and has been called a "pioneer of gay literature" by the Lambda Literary Review. A graduate of the University of Utah, his work appeared in ONE Magazine, Vector, [3] and California Scene, [4] as well as in Latter-Gay Saints: An Anthology of Gay Mormon Fiction. [2] His novel I Want It All was the first book to explore San Francisco's leather subculture. [5] His greatest success was his All trilogy: I Want It All, All or Nothing, and All Is Well. [6] Vanden received a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Erotica in 2012 for the revision of this trilogy, All Together. [7]
In spite of his success, Vanden, together with Richard Amory, was highly critical of the way editor Earl Kemp and publisher Greenleaf Classics treated his work, citing Greenleaf's non-payment of royalties, employment of editors not familiar with gay literature, [4] and insistence on inserting graphic sex into his books as examples of their heavy-handed approach to LGBT publishing. [2]
He died of cancer at his home in Carmichael, California in October 2014. [1]
Dirk Vanden (born Richard Fullmer; May 7, 1933 – October 21, 2014), [1] was an American author and illustrator. He is considered the first gay Mormon writer [2] and has been called a "pioneer of gay literature" by the Lambda Literary Review. A graduate of the University of Utah, his work appeared in ONE Magazine, Vector, [3] and California Scene, [4] as well as in Latter-Gay Saints: An Anthology of Gay Mormon Fiction. [2] His novel I Want It All was the first book to explore San Francisco's leather subculture. [5] His greatest success was his All trilogy: I Want It All, All or Nothing, and All Is Well. [6] Vanden received a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Erotica in 2012 for the revision of this trilogy, All Together. [7]
In spite of his success, Vanden, together with Richard Amory, was highly critical of the way editor Earl Kemp and publisher Greenleaf Classics treated his work, citing Greenleaf's non-payment of royalties, employment of editors not familiar with gay literature, [4] and insistence on inserting graphic sex into his books as examples of their heavy-handed approach to LGBT publishing. [2]
He died of cancer at his home in Carmichael, California in October 2014. [1]