Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Kevin Sessums: Southern Exposure
by Andrew Davis
2007-12-26

This article shared 5327 times since Wed Dec 26, 2007
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


In the memoir Mississippi Sissy, celebrity journalist Kevin Sessums details his intriguing yet tragic life growing up in The Magnolia State—a life which involved everything from murder to family strife to molestation as he dealt with his own sexuality. The writer of one of the most acclaimed books of 2007 talked with Windy City Times about Sidney Poitier, his lesbian sister and the one sentence in his book that makes him ill.

Windy City Times: How cathartic was it to write this book?

Kevin Sessums: I tell people that it was the Cliffs Notes of my shrinkdom. I sat in my shrink's office years ago and I said, 'This sounds like such narrative. I have such a Southern gothic life,' and she said, 'Maybe you should write it.' I would go, 'No, I think it's such a hackneyed form.' Finally, someone talked me into it and I said, 'Maybe I do have a story to tell—and maybe it'll be cathartic for me and for other people, too.'

WCT: And have you heard from other people?

KS: A lot of other people. That's the best part of this. I [ wrote ] about my book tour on my blog. I [ even ] received an e-mail from someone in New Orleans who thought about killing the sissy within him when he was at [ the university ] The Citadel, and he told me how much the book has meant to him.

WCT: Whenever I see or hear the word 'memoir,' I think of [ A Thousand Pieces ] writer James Frey...

KS: Which is why I wrote all those things at the beginning of the book. ... The way I describe that aspect of it is that it's 'the clothes that I ripped up to put on the real body.' Everything that happens is real, but I admit that the dialogue is my creation, just to make it more interesting.

WCT: Looking over everything—and you've gone through a lot in your life—what would say is the most surreal aspect?

KS: The most surreal aspect is having written the book and talking with you. I'm so used to being on your side of the equation and asking questions instead of answering them.

Truly, I don't think that anything is really surreal. If you're a writer, you understand that separateness and you feel that sense of narrative in your life, and you're able to stand back and watch it. I think that separateness—if nothing traumatic happens to you—can really fuck you up, but if trauma happens to you, it saves you because you're able to separate yourself [ from the situation ] . So I don't know if anything will really seem surreal to me.

WCT: Why did you name the book's chapters after famous people?

KS: It's what I do for a living. It's a tip of my hat to being a celebrity journalist, to use that oxymoronic term. I don't really think I'm a journalist at all—I'd have a real inferiority complex if I did think that. I'm just a writer who's unintimidated by fame, can put a sentence together and know what a narrative arc is. I thought that if I put famous names in there, that's what people expect.

WCT: Yeah, but I wasn't expecting 'Erik Estrada.'

KS: [ Laughs ] That's what draws you in. You think, 'How in the hell is this person going to be woven into this chapter?'

WCT: I'm sure he's very flattered.

KS: I'm sure he's never read the book. [ Laughs ] Although there was a part of me that wanted to track down everyone in those chapters who's still alive and let them know about this book.

I did have an amazing experience in Los Angeles during Oscar weekend. Whenever I have a niece or nephew who graduates from high school, I take them to parties and let them see my Cinderella life: the Vanity Fair party and [ others ] . We were at a picnic and—sitting one picnic table away from me and my nephew—was Sidney Poitier. I said, 'You know what? I'm going to go over and tell him about my book because he is such a big part of my book, because he's such a big part of it.' So I screwed up my courage and went over to him and went over and knelt at his feet—and he's 80 and his back was just as erect as the 'i' in 'sissy'—and told him what a big part he was in three critical junctures in my book. He couldn't have been more gracious. At one point, [ director ] Penny Marshall came over to kiss him 'hi,' and as I was about to walk away, he grabbed my hand and said, 'No, I'm very interested in this thing.' We talked for about 15 minutes. It felt like [ former family helper ] Matty Mae [ who has a pivotal role in the book ] was in heaven guiding this.

WCT: Speaking of Matty Mae, I was going to ask you what you thought your biggest regret is. Is one of them that she left your house essentially because of you?

KS: Yeah. One of the things I wanted to do with this book is not let myself off the hook. There are scenes in this book where I'm not very heroic [ and ] I'm not very nice, and that's one of them. This book is also a love letter to her; I think she's one of the heroes in this book. Even more [ affecting ] than the cotton-field scene is the first time she tells me, 'Don't say the n-word.' After Sidney Poitier wins Best Actor, I look in her eyes and she starts to cry. I [ realize ] that when I was six years old that I had broken someone's heart—and that moment has stayed with me the rest of my life.

WCT: How many of the people in your memoir do you keep in contact with?

KS: Just my brother and sister. [ Laughs ] And Carl Davis, the guy I went to after [ one person ] is murdered; we reconnected. I sent the book to anyone who was alive, and I reconnected with a lot of people. That's a nice thing about the book.

WCT: You mentioned your sister. She's lesbian, correct?

KS: Yes. She lives in Mississippi, with her lover, H.C. Porter. They have a Web site, www.hcporter.com; [ Porter ] is an artist. They were braver than I am; they stayed.

WCT: I couldn't help but laugh during a part in the book where you dressed as a witch...

KS: That's the part I read the book tour. It tends to be a motif in a lot of people's lives.

WCT: Talking about [ your mentor ] Frank, you said that the two words you would use to describe him are 'dignity' and 'grace.' What two words would you use to describe your father?

KS: 'Frustrated' and 'compelling.'

WCT: That locker-room scene was compelling.

KS: My first gay memory. We all live with our first gay memory—and that was certainly mine.

WCT: You don't spare any details in this book, such as playing doctor with the neighbor's girl and being called 'B.D.' in school...

KS: That's the one sentence in the whole book—I've been criticized for saying I have a big dick. That's one sentence in the whole book [ and it's about ] sixth grade.

A lot of people have criticized the book for being too sexually graphic. But—if you don't count the scene with the girl, which is not really sex—there's only one paragraph in the book that's about sex, and that's about the football player. The rest of the stuff that people say is sex is [ really ] molestation; that's not sex. That's a physical act and a perversion of trust; that's not sex. If I don't describe what happens, the reader's imagination can be more graphic than what really happens. I had to own what had happened; if I hadn't written about it, I would have [ bought ] into the shame that you live with the rest of your life after you've been molested. What you're left with the rest of your life if you've been molested is complicity.

There's one sentence in the book that makes me nauseous and makes me cringe. That's when [ the molester ] says, 'Can I see you again?,' and I say, 'Sure.' Every time I get to that sentence, it makes me want to throw up.

WCT: You may feel complicit, but you do realize that you were manipulated.

KS: I know, I know—but you still feel complicit. You can't get over the feeling. Maybe some people can, but I can't.

WCT: Have you forgiven everyone who's wronged you?

KS: Yeah. In the book, I forgive [ the molester ] . You can forgive everyone else except yourself. Forgiving other people is easy; forgiving yourself is the hard part.

WCT: What do you think your father would say to you if he were alive today?

KS: I have no idea. He comes across as sort of tough in the book, but there are some very tender moments. He loved me, but I think he was really scared of me. Plus, my mother told him to come home after he moved to New York to become a [ basketball ] star, and he don't think he ever forgave me—speaking of forgiveness—for being the reason that he had to come home to coach at a podunk school. When he saw me, he saw the reason he wasn't in New York in a Knicks uniform.

He wouldn't have been able to read this book because I wouldn't have written this book. I always think how different my life would've been if my parents had been alive. I always wanted the scene of coming out to my parents—and I never got that.

WCT: One of the many powerful moments in Mississippi Sissy is when you say that you could no longer cry in your father's presence.

KS: Well, we were in competition. I was like, 'I'm going to be a sissy, but I'm going to be tougher than [ his father ] .'

WCT: And your mother helped shape your life.

KS: Oh, she totally shaped me. She left me with a love of language and to turn the word 'sissy' on its head.

Going back to my father, after I wrote this book, I realized that I was living the life that he wanted to live, although I am not a basketball player. I thought I wanted to be Arlene Francis but, on some level, maybe I'm living the life my father wanted to live—completing some weird circle for him.

See www.mississippisissy.com .


This article shared 5327 times since Wed Dec 26, 2007
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Kara Swisher talks truth, power in tech at Chicago Humanities event 2024-03-25
- Lesbian author, award-winning journalist and podcast host Kara Swisher spoke about truth and power in the tech industry through the lens of her most recent book, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, March 21 at First ...


Gay News

RuPaul finds 'Hidden Meanings' in new memoir 2024-03-18
- RuPaul Andre Charles made a rare Chicago appearance for a book tour on March 12 at The Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave. Presented by National Public Radio station WBEZ 91.5 FM, the talk coincided with ...


Gay News

Without compromise: Holly Baggett explores lives of iconoclasts Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap 2024-03-04
- Jane Heap (1883-1964) and Margaret Anderson (1886-1973), each of them a native Midwesterner, woman of letters and iconoclast, had a profound influence on literary culture in both America and Europe in the early 20th Century. Heap ...


Gay News

There she goes again: Author Alison Cochrun discusses writing journey 2024-02-27
- By Carrie Maxwell When Alison Cochrun began writing her first queer romance novel in 2019, she had no idea it would change the course of her entire life. Cochrun, who spent 11 years as a high ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Women's college, banned books, military initiative, Oregon 2023-12-29
- After backlash regarding a decision to update its anti-discrimination policy and open enrollment to some transgender applicants, a Catholic women's college in Indiana will return to its previous admission policy, per The National Catholic Reporter. In ...


Gay News

NATIONAL School items, Miami attack, Elliot Page, Fire Island 2023-12-22
- In Virginia, new and returning members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Fairfax County School Board were inaugurated—with some school board members opting to use banned books on the topics of slavery and LGBTQ+ ...


Gay News

Chicago author's new guide leads lesbian fiction authors toward inspiration and publication 2023-12-07
- From a press release: Award-winning and bestselling lesbian fiction author Elizabeth Andre—the pen name for a Chicago-based interracial lesbian couple—has published her latest book, titled Self-Publishing Lesbian Fiction, Write Your ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Tenn. law, banned books, rainbow complex, journalists quit 2023-12-01
- Under pressure from a lawsuit over an anti-LGBTQ+ city ordinance, officials in Murfreesboro, Tennessee removed language that banned homosexuality in public, MSNBC noted. Passed in June, Murfreesboro's "public decency" ordinance ...


Gay News

BOOKS Lucas Hilderbrand reflects on gay history in 'The Bars Are Ours' 2023-11-29
- In The Bars Are Ours (via Duke University Press), Lucas Hilderbrand, a professor of film and media studies at the University of California-Irvine, takes readers on a historical journey of gay bars, showing how the venues ...


Gay News

BOOKS Owen Keehnen takes readers to an 'oasis of pleasure' in 'Man's Country' 2023-11-27
- In the book Man's Country: More Than a Bathhouse, Chicago historian Owen Keehnen takes a literary microscope to the venue that the late local icon Chuck Renslow opened in 1973. Over decades, until it was demolished ...


Gay News

Photographer Irene Young launches book with stellar concerts 2023-11-20
- "Something About the Women" was appropriately the closing song for two sold-out, stellar concerts at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage November 19, in celebration of the new book of the same name by Irene Young, the legendary ...


Gay News

Rustin film puts a gay pioneer into the spotlight 2023-11-16
- The story of activist Bayard Rustin is one that should be told in classrooms everywhere. Instead, because Rustin was an openly same-gender-loving man, his legacy has gone relatively unnoticed outside of LGBTQ+-focused history books. Netflix hopes ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: The times Streisand failed to make a splash 2023-11-13
- "Fame is a hollow trophy. No matter who you are, you can only eat one pastrami sandwich at a time."—Wise words from Barbra Streisand. You all know that Barbra Streisand's book is out. And I ...


Gay News

Charles Busch dishes on life as a storyteller 2023-11-09
- Performer/writer Charles Busch, who recently penned his autobiography, Leading Lady: A Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy, said that collecting his most precious and salient memories in a book felt "inevitable." "Storytelling is such an essential ...


Gay News

LGBT HISTORY PROJECT: Exploring 70 years of lesbian publications, from 1940s zines to modern glossy magazines 2023-11-02
- Since the '40s, lesbians have created a vibrant history of publications. From the exploration of daily lesbian life to literary and feminist pursuits, to the modern age of glossy magazines, for over 70 years, lesbians have ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.