May 13, 2005  |  By: BRIAN MOYLAN  | COMMENTS     

more research, Muzzy submitted the proposal and the company accepted it.

“When he did the proposal, that was just the first step,” says Kathryn Korfonta, acquisitions editor at Arcadia, who worked closely with Muzzy on the book. “When he turned in his materials, he did a great job. It was just what we were looking for.

“[Our books] are predominantly photographic and they’re a unique way to show the history of a community,” Korfonta says. “People want to see their history in photographs, and the books are a good way to do that.”

Muzzy says he conducted research at the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, and D.C. libraries to find many of the photos included in the book. For more contemporary information, he borrowed photos from various gay civil rights activists and organizations familiar with D.C.’s gay population.

“It was a networking thing,” Muzzy says. “I would talk to people and they would say, ‘Did you talk to so and so?’”

Two key sources were Mark Meinke, founder of the Rainbow History Project, a group dedicated to preserving the city’s gay history, and Patsy Lynch a longtime resident and photographer who has taken pictures at many events in the city.

“Frank’s book will be a good signpost for people who want to know more about our history from a D.C. sense,” says Meinke, who dreams of writing a comprehensive textual history that offers another picture of gay D.C.

“The real history would be much lengthier and more textually oriented,” he says. “This book is a lot more accessible for people who are interested but who are not historians. It captures the attention.”

Pulp is hosting a launch party for the book on Saturday, May 21,at 7 p.m. It coincides with the unveiling of Muzzy’s latest photography display in the store, “From Flesh to Stone,” which will be on display until July 23. His most recent work involves photos of the city’s homoerotic sculpture.

“It’s like childbirth,” Muzzy says of “Gay and Lesbian Washington, D.C.”

“It takes nine months and then you forget about the pain and you just want to show it off to your friends and you want it to do something on its own,” he says. “I want this book to do something on its own, too.”