I am pleased to announce that I have penned an article for the Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society website titled “The Fire Island Muses of George Platt Lynes & The PaJaMa Collective.” It focuses on the subjects of the artwork they created during their time on Fire Island. See the full piece here: https://www.pineshistory.org/the-archives/fire-island-muses
I have previously written about The PaJaMa collective’s Fire Island summers. They were frequently joined by fellow artists George Platt Lynes and Bernard Perlin, as well as a parade of friends and lovers, performers and literary types from their New York social scene. They were almost exclusively attractive young gay men who served as models and muses for the artists.
10 of these men are profiled in the piece – several of whom have previously been featured here. The others will inevitably get more in-depth profiles in the future:
José “Pete” Martinez
Forrest Thayer
Donald Windham & Sandy Campbell
Jonathan Tichenor
Randy Jack
Ted Starkowski
Chuck Howard
Jensen Yow & Jack Fontan
Paul Cadmus: Two Boys On The Beach (1938) / Two Boys On The Beach 2 (1939)
Thanks to Robert Bonanno for reaching out and John Dempsey for the feedback and formatting!
See Also:
Fire Island PaJaMa Party
Provincetown PaJaMa Party
Artist’s Muse: William Weslow
Artist’s Muse: The Mystery Model
Buddy & Johnny: A Historic Photo Shoot
Kenn Duncan After Dark
New York City In Touch (1979)
Gay Times #69 (1978)
Excellent Brian! I left the East Village for Europe in 1987. Your writings bring back many great memories from those magical years.
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