A Passion to Preserve

The author presents portraits of gay conservationists and preservationists around the country and argues that gay men are instrumental in the restoration of our cities and the preservation of our collective history.
Anyone who shares a love of the past will undoubtedly find this book inspirational and moving. Will Fellows has done an excellent job of...recounting the exploits of past 'bachelor uncles' and 'temperamental men' who saved buildings from the wrecking ball of progress and urban renewal.--Bay Window
Clearly Will Fellows has hit a nerve with many gay men, and many of them write about their collecting and preserving, from childhood on, often sacrificing friends, livelihoods, careers, and lovers to do so. As with his previous book, Farm Boys, Fellows presents the material in people's own voices as much as possible and the best of these essays (and there are many) are wonderfully readable capsule biographies and histories.--Darden A. Pyron, author of Liberace: An American Boy
"A concept at once original and yet so obvious it is surprising that no one has attempted it before."--Library Journal
"A rich and detailed examination of an important and heretofore neglected aspect of our urban heritage."--Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class
"Compelling . . . stories and first-person accounts from gay men across the country . . . provide a colorful picture of a landscape that has not really been painted until now."--The Advocate