Biographies & Memoirs

Behind the glitz and glamour, Wayne has always felt like an outsider. Sleep reveals the difficulties for a working-class, gay man in handling the prejudices of his generation and living through the AIDS epidemic. Wayne was also the shortest principal dancer in the Royal Ballet - he had to spin twice as fast and jump twice as high to succeed. In this moving - but also laugh-out-loud and gossip filled - memoir, Wayne Sleep shows how he danced his way to success, fulfilment and love, and how he overcame obstacles and prejudice along the way.

For the first time, in her own words, Nicole tells the story of her journey from childhood in rural Maine to the spotlights of Hollywood, sharing the lessons she’s learned along the way. With clever wit and unflinching honesty, she tackles some of the most insidious messaging absorbed by queer kids and all young women, from the idea that any one thing can (or should) ever really “fix” you, to wondering what’s wrong with you when things don’t always feel better, and reminding us that, sometimes, a happy ending is only the beginning of the story.

TREES IN WINTER is about the healing properties of nature and of walking, especially during the coldest season, when the inclination is for so many of us to stay indoors. It is also about the joy of learning a craft and practising it. Richard also shares the deeply moving, personal journey that led to him becoming an artist, as he reflects on how he connects with the world around him, and finds creativity through his walks in nature.

With resilience, strength, and gut-punching clarity, Marich takes listeners through a tumultuous coming-of-age marked by addiction, escapism, spiritual manipulation, misogyny, and abuse. She shares with unflinching detail the complicity of her mother’s silence and the lengths her father went to assert dominance and control over her body, her desires, her identity—and even her eternal soul—”for her own good” and with a side of televangelistic hellfire.

Hargrove’s memoir picks up where Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy left off, exploring generational trauma and pulling back the curtain on family court and poverty in America. Moving and inspiring, Mama is an ode to motherhood and identity, to never giving up, and to finding strength in family and community.

Bestselling author Rachael Herron is stuck. She and her partner have lived in their beloved East Oakland home for 15 years, almost as long as they’ve been married. But the house is in a rough area, and they’re tied to a mortgage she’s not sure they’ll ever be able to pay off. So when the whispered longing for adventure grows into a bellow she can’t ignore, Rachael decides to utilize not only her dual citizenship but also her impulsive nature. She and her partner will abandon their standard-issue American life and move to the far-distant shores of Aotearoa.

This taboo memoir eavesdrops into the unguarded mind of a Christian husband and father who came of age attracted to men. As a boy, Harrison Bly craved male affection and camaraderie but never found his footing in the world of boys. Secretly gay in a conservative Christian world, Harrison compromised authenticity only to find shallow acceptance. On the crooked path to manhood, Harrison fumbled in the dark between ideologies on faith and homosexuality that failed to acknowledge his deepest wounds and longings.

In "I Change Course," Kate offers a candid reflection on the power of choice and the beauty in every ordinary moment. Her story is both inspiring and entertaining, showing how embracing change with an open heart can lead to remarkable personal growth. With wisdom and humor, Kate Bean guides listeners through the process of rediscovering, reimagining, and rebuilding their lives after change. Whether you are facing your own crossroads or simply seeking inspiration, this memoir is a beacon of hope and a reminder of the transformative power of embracing life's uncertainties.

At fifteen years old, Daphne Scholinski was committed to a mental institution and awarded the dubious diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder. For three years and more than a million dollars of insurance, the problem was “treated”—with makeup lessons and instructions in how to walk like a girl. With a new epilogue by Scholinski, whose name is now Dylan and who identifies as nonbinary, this revised edition of The Last Time I Wore a Dress looks back at those experiences and their life since.

Love is Greater than AIDS: A Memoir of Survival, Healing, and Hope is Rev. A. Stephen Pieter's inspiring story of surviving AIDS and the notorious Suramin antiviral drug trial to lead a life of ministry, celebrity, LGBTQ+ and AIDS activism, and hope.