by Jinx Beers, $19.95; iUniverse; 242 pages
Memoirs of an Old Dyke, by Jinx Beers, is a frustrating autobiography on several fronts. I certainly am glad to hear first-person thoughts about the road taken by one longtime dyke activist. However, I wish she had a good editor for spelling, grammar and content. [Even the word "newspaper" is spelled wrong on the back cover.] There are kernels of interesting stories here, but they need some editing shine to make them pearls.
Beers was born in 1933 in Southern California. She had a difficult childhood and used a four-year stint in the Air Force to get away from her past. She was stationed in Germany in the years after World War II, and we learn about her coming out and escapades in the military.
Beers used the G.I. Bill to attend college at UCLA, and then worked at UCLA's Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering for 18 years. In a Forrest Gump-like way, Beers was in the right place at the right time, but unlike the fictional Gump, Beers also helped control her destiny by actually founding and participating in groups and businesses. She founded The Lesbian News, a publication still in place today (though she sold it after 14 years as publisher and editor). She also helped teach a lesbian class at UCLA, was involved with the National Organization for Women Lesbian Rights Task Force, and other area groups.
Beers was called a "Feminist Who Changed America" for her work in founding Lesbian News. She deserved the title, but she also deserves having someone else look at her story and craft a better tribute to her efforts.
As I said, there are some interesting stories Beers tells, especially to place her life in a historical context. One interesting story is about the sit-in against homophobic talk-show host Mort Sahl. But the writing is crowded out by too many exclamation points, spelling errors and, sometimes, a lack of context. It's like you almost get to the interesting points, and stop just short. Also, the few photos included could use captions.
Another set of eyes would help add perspective and nuance, drawing out details from the author. Most chapters are just two or three pages, and some deserve far more information. There are also moments of bitterness that take away from the story and are too one-sided to feel appropriate, even in an autobiography. At times this seems like a revenge book, but that can never hold the reader's attention for long. And there is a really outrageous and uncorroborated suggestion in a short section about AIDS that lesbians were champing at the bit waiting to take over groups after gay men died, as opposed to the reality that lesbians were part of the AIDS movement—as caretakers, fundraisers and activists.
I encourage Beers to take another stab at this book, maybe bringing in other voices—and a strong editor—to add more of substance to the interesting stories, fix the errors and take out the bitter and sometimes self-effacing tone. These things are not needed, and take away from the fact that this is a feminist dyke who did make important contributions to the LGBT movement.
