That camping life
Don Scarborough RICH LOPEZ | Staff writerRich@DallasVoice.com Write what you know. That’s probably the cornerstone of advice for all writers, and that’s exactly what Don Scarborough did for his first published book.
His novel, based on his own real-life experiences, centers on Mitch, who visits the remote gay site Camp Willowswish where he goes through his own journey of self-acceptance, a journey that includes him entering a drag pageant. “I visited the real camp throughout the ’90s, and it was an exclusive thing back then,” the Dallas-based author told Dallas Voice this week. “You had to be invited, and it was in this remote space at Lake Murray in Oklahoma.
And it was held on the same weekend as the Miss America pageant, so this pageant in the woods was a parody of that.“But these contestants were so brilliant.” He promises that the contestants back then weren’t drag queens professionally, but they did make every effort to create a full character behind their dress and heels.
Scarborough kept the name of the camp for his title but moved the location to East Texas. The author describes the book, Camp Willowswish, as funny and poignant.
