Armistead Maupin
Armistead Maupin is a novelist and
columnist who was born in 1944. His best known works are the novels in
his Tales of the City series.
Maupin’s career as a writer started when he was studying at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While he was a student
there, he began working for the university’s newspaper. From there, he
began work for a local television station.
Maupin served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, after which he moved
to San Francisco. He worked at the San Francisco bureau of the
Associated Press and began writing Tales of the City as a serial in The
Pacific Sun in 1974. The fictional account of 1970s life in San
Francisco was later picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle, and has
also been adapted for television.
The first Tales of the City novel, a collection of the serial, was
published in 1978. As a series, Tales of the City dealt with a number of
social issues of the time, including AIDS. The first novel was followed
by five more titles, with the latest being 2010’s Mary Ann in Autumn.
Maupin is currently writing a sixth novel in the series.
Maupin has also written two non-Tales novels, Maybe the Moon, published
in 1992, and The Night Listener, published in 2000. His work as a writer
has earned him a number of awards, including the 2001 Gay, Lesbian and
Bisexual Book Award. He has also been recognized for his work for gay
rights and equality.
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