BookMen DC: Still going strong at 25
On May 11, 1999, what was originally known as the Potomac Gay Men’s Book Group convened for its first meeting. A lot has changed over the ensuing quarter-century, starting with our name.
But our identity remains true to the description on our blog: “an informal group of men who are interested in gay literature (both fiction and non-fiction).” Our founder, Bill Malone, worked at the Whitman-Walker Clinic and started the group using donations of remainder books from a wholesaler in New York.
Soon after that, members decided to get their own books, and began purchasing them through Lambda Rising, which offered a discount for such orders until it closed in 2010.
The group later renamed itself BoysnBooks, and then became BookMen DC in 2007, which is also when we started our blog. Following Bill’s tenure, Tom Wischer, Greg Farber and Tim Walton (who set up our blog) have served as our facilitators.
