The Oldest Gay Couple in America: A Seventy-Year Journey Through Same-Sex America [Hardcover]

Gean Harwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997

The Oldest Gay Couple in America tells the moving and, at times, frightening story of Gean Harwood and Bruhs Mero, as they journey through the gay and lesbian scene of New York City from 1927 to the present. Covering Harwood's childhood, their professional life in the arts, the fear and repression of the McCarthy era, and their triumphant "coming out" in the eighties, this is an intimate look at the strife and joy of two lives intertwined.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

True love stories are always touching, indeed miraculous, but gay men have only recently seen their version of the genre in the media. Of course, in real life the story is an old one. Harwood and Bruhs (pronounced "Bruce") Mero met in 1927 and were partners until Mero died nearly 70 years later. Harwood's plain-spoken tale of their life together and their show business cronies is notable for its matter-of-fact quality. You know you've met men like them before?you just didn't know how interesting they were. Like the subjects of now classic Jeb and Dash (LJ 12/93), they proved that love can be stronger than obdurate social forces. Anyone who loves a good love story will enjoy this book, and it will serve as a primary resource for historians.?David S. Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Birch Lane Pr (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559724269
• ISBN-13: 978-1559724265
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,317,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let There Be Love, May 27, 2000

By 

Daniel Robuck "Culture Vulture" (Campbell, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Oldest Gay Couple in America: A Seventy-Year Journey Through Same-Sex America (Hardcover)

Included in Harwood's conversational memoir is first and foremost a love story of two men who lived lives as a couple before there was gay liberation, yet lived to see gay liberation come to be. Not that their lives weren't gay all along! The parties, the celebrities and the "love that dare not speak its name" mentality of America from the Depression through WWII to today. Harwood has also given us a clear insider's look of New York history, the arts and culture of several decades (with an emphasis on dance), and how the lack of money put strains on all human relationships. But what is most wonderful in Harwood's enchanting autobiography is his portrait of how all couples, gay or straight, face the same challenges, the same questions of what a relationship means, and how individuals must adjust to each other in sickness and in health through 70 years of living together. The entire story makes for entirely fascinating reading and will remain one of the best gay memoirs and gay history books available for years to come.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare look at an honest relationship... I cried, January 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oldest Gay Couple in America: A Seventy-Year Journey Through Same-Sex America (Hardcover)

One can feel the love, fear, fun, and sorrow that Gean and Bruhs experienced through their lives. This was a truly heart-warming book. It strengthened my feelings for my 10-year relationship with my partner and gave me an insight to gay life "before my time". This is a great book for romantics dreaming of that illusive long-time companion. It proves it can be done!

3.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and interesting, but at places, a little on boring, September 3, 2011

By 

jms - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Oldest Gay Couple in America: A Seventy-Year Journey Through Same-Sex America (Hardcover)

I found the book very informative and insightful. It gives you a good feel of what it was like early in 20th Century for gay people, even in a big city like NY. It also provides thoughtful insight into fact that gay relationships are no different than heterosexual ones, except they are still not legal in most parts of the US. I enjoyed most understanding how these two wonderful men dealt with having to live in hiding and pretend to be something they were not to be accepted, to keep jobs, and even get living arrangements. There were parts that seemed to go very slow when came to operas, and the "art" part of their lives. It helped understand who they were as men, but for us who are not into that type of thing, kind of boring, and found myself moving past these parts. All in all a good read. I read it in one day.