Dr. Ortiz will discuss his latest book, "Beyond Stonewall: Gordon Merrick and the Hidden History of Gay Fiction." Gordon Merrick was the most commercially successful writer of gay fiction in the 20th century. He also led a fascinating life: Broadway actor, newspaper reporter, OSS spy, American expatriate. This talk explores the autobiographical aspect of Merrick's novels, which offer a glimpse of what it was like to be a gay man in the decades before Stonewall.