John Mitzel, owner of Calamus Bookstore, Boston, Mass., died on Friday from complications from an earlier cancer treatment, according to Lambda Literary. He was 65.
Besides owning Calamus, Mitzel wrote 10 books and was, wrote, "a fount of knowledge when it came to Boston's gay history, as well as an active participant in shaping that city's queer cultural identity."
He co-founded the paper Fag Rag in 1971, and worked at the late Glad Day Bookshop for 16 years before founding Calamus Bookstore in 2000.
"John was the person who made so many gay and lesbian authors known to the general public," recalled Penguin sales representative Karl Krueger. "He introduced them. In those years (1975 to 1994?), G&L titles were separated from the mainstream and rarely got media or any attention at all. John was the source. He knew every one of them. If you were a gay author in Kenya, he knew about you and was most likely the only bookseller who had your book. Glad Day Books played a huge role in the community in those years. Everyone went there, everyone shopped there, everyone went to the author events he hosted. I will remember him as a man who lived his belief in writers in my community. Thanks to John, I discovered authors I never would have known and I'm grateful for his passion."
Calamus Bookstore will host an event celebrating Mitzel's life on Friday, October 11, at 7 p.m. at the store, whose address is 92B South Street, Boston, Mass.
