DA Kentner is an award winning author who also enjoys meeting and interviewing authors of many genres.

As author KevaD, my novel "Whistle Pass" won the 2013 EPIC eBook Award for suspense. Previously, in 2012, it won a Rainbow Award in the historical category. "Whistle Pass" is currently out of print, though I'm considering finding a new publisher, or self-publishing the novel. What do you think?

"The Caretaker", a 3,000 word short story, won 'Calliope' magazine's 18th annual short story competition. Click the blue ribbon to view their site and entry rules for this year's short fiction competition.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Historian, Author, and Journalist St. Sukie de la Croix



St. Sukie de la Croix is an internationally published journalist, columnist, fiction author, playwright and photographer. Besides having written dozens of short stories and poems for anthologies and magazines, Mr. de la Croix has seen his dance plays “A White Light in God’s Choir” and “Two Weeks in a Bus Shelter with an Iguana” take life on stage. Teaming up author Rick R. Reed, the prolific duo produced the novel “Ambrose and the Waif,” a compelling story of madness, greed, love, and murder revealed through a series of letters. 

Born in Britain, Sukie became a recognized journalist writing articles for underground and alternative presses. After he moved to the U.S., his frank, outspoken viewpoint of the world around him, as well as his photographic skills, landed his work in numerous periodicals, including a ten week historical series in the Chicago Tribune. 

Sukie’s love and passion for history began his ten year journey into Chicago’s past, culminating in the book “Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago before Stonewall.” Obviously, in order to track events that began in the 1670s, Sukie spent hours on end researching archives, studying photographs and artwork, and piecing together long silenced voices to reestablish a forgotten and many times suppressed evolution of LGBT history in the Windy City. From civil war vice dens to Jane Addams (founder of Hull House) to artists and authors to playwright Lorraine Hansberry (“Raisin in the Sun”), Sukie examined every pebble he could find that might reveal a grain of fact. But, true to his character, Sukie spent as much time on the street, tape recorder in hand, interviewing people and capturing their stories and lives for posterity. Whatever event Chicago could produce, Sukie was there. 

On Rick R. Reed’s recommendation, I purchased a copy of “Chicago Whispers.” What I found was much more than the “abc” style documentation readers sometimes find in history books. Sukie has a voice, a very powerful and distinctive voice, that not only resonates with the reader but lingers in our minds like a trusted friend sharing his time and experiences, encouraging us to ponder the past’s defeats and victories, and accept that history is a signpost to tomorrow.
“Chicago Whispers” is indeed a book that ends with the reader’s beginning.

Q) I am in awe at the diligence required to bring this story to life. What compelled you to begin your decade long journey that became “Chicago Whispers”? 

A) When I visited a gay bookstore and was told there was no book about the history of  the LGBT community in Chicago, I decided to write one myself. Having said that, it's easy to start writing a book, but finishing a book is something else entirely. The most common observation I've received from readers is about my attention to detail, and that came from a blind stubbornness to "get it right." I'm very aware that the lives of LGBT's who have gone before me should be treated with respect, and therefore I tried to keep my own analysis and opinions out of it and let the documents from the period speak for themselves. I've stayed very close to my sources. 

Q) Chicago is notorious for its “that’s Chicago” attitude of social and political surrender. How did you manage to burrow through that barrier? 

A) Corruption has been, and still is, rife in Chicago. It's a part of the city's make up and is what makes it so fascinating. I interviewed 70-year old drag queens who talked about working for the mob with all the ease of a current 20 year old saying they're a barista at Starbucks. I was also shocked by the extent of police corruption and I tried to find something positive to write about them, but the truth is they were vile, as were the politicians, the lawyers, the judges, and organized crime. LGBT's were just a cash cow to them. 

Q) You went beyond the obvious, digging deep into political figures, celebrities, and all races and genders. What was the greatest difficulty you had in piecing together Chicago’s LGBT past? 

A) I tried to keep the chapters in some sort of timeline, but certain people and issues overlapped into different chapters and periods in time. After much gnashing of teeth and pulling my hair out, I decided to just keep writing and worry about chapters later. In the end it all fell into place on its own. I focused on one issue, one person, at a time, and researched until the well was dry. Uncovering gay history is more detective work than anything else, so I waxed my mustache and used my "little grey cells" like Hercule Poirot. 

Q) It is a bit ironic that a ‘Brit’ did what no one else had. Do you believe your foreign roots helped or hindered your efforts? 

A) History books are written by people who weren't there. American authors write about European history all the time, and vice versa. Books about the American Civil War and the Roman Empire are written by people who weren't there. Helped or hindered? Never thought much about it until reporters started bringing it up. I do think the accent helped me in gaining access to some libraries that required a membership card I didn't have.  

Q) “Chicago Whispers” doesn’t end on a contemporary note. How soon can we look forward to the next installment? Yes, we want one. 

A) I've written the sequel, which is now with my publisher, the University of Wisconsin Press. It covers the period June 1969 until June 1975 and documents the radical Gay Liberation Front and the making of a gay community in Chicago. I've also just completed a memoir of growing up a little sissy boy in Post World War II England, and I'm currently writing a novel about lesbians in 1924. After that I'm writing a book of essays. I'm busy.  

Q) Any parting comments for those who haven’t read your work yet?  

A) My mission in writing Chicago Whispers was partly to reclaim the contributions made by LGBT's to the culture of a great American city. The words to "America the Beautiful" were written by a lesbian after she visited Chicago, Katherine Lee Bates. That song belongs to us, and it's a lesbian song. Let's take it back. I also wanted to document the lives of a wondrously diverse group of people whose only common bond was their sexuality, but who somehow carved a niche for themselves in a society that rejected them. And I also wanted to retrace the path of those who set out on the long road to our liberation.
DA Kentner is an author and journalist www.kevad.net

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