Chapter 66: A Letter From Mark Best — An email from my son — ___________________________ From: Mark Best Saturday, June 6, 2015 12:19 AM To: Larry Best; Kory Chatelain Subject: Story for you….. Tonight, I went to a bar with some friends including Lou Paretti, a guy I used to play basketball with in high school. Lou’s dad died a few years back, unexpectedly…

Chapter 65: A LESSON IN THE POWER OF WORDS — I first wrote about myself in a construction paper-booklet titled ABOUT ME. Each of the few pages had a crayon drawing and a sentence or two about some aspect of my 11-year-old self. My career goal was to be an astronaut, common enough for a grade-schooler in 1960. Thinking of…

Chapter 64: A billion wicked thoughts — I’ve long been confounded with the how and why of my sexuality. I read nearly every book and article I come across that can add to my store of knowledge. Science will eventually sort it out and perhaps the straight world will finally accept our (gay) Darwinian contribution to natural selection and the survival of the species. …

Chapter 63: Scent memories — Some time into my relationship with my now-husband Kory, I belatedly and slowly realized I loved inhaling his scent. This was so even though I could not possibly describe it because it smells like nothing at all. For clarity, I have no interest in anything malodorous, including perspiration. When he…

Chapter 62: Gay male sex sometimes just happens — Early on in our relationship Kory and I saw ourselves as a long-term couple. We followed recommended procedures of using condoms, getting tested, and then getting tested again six months later to accommodate the limitations of existing HIV tests. …

Chapter 61: Losses and Gains — My story so far has focused on my realizing I’m gay, coming out after years of straight marriage and children, falling in love and marrying a man, and my gradual embrace of political activism. I even met President Obama at the White House. Now we come to something sad and…

Chapter 60: Going for Broke — After decades of living in the closet as a “straight” married man, I found the courage to come out, to pursue love, and even to go public as an advocate for equality in my native New Orleans. After I became involved in an unsuccessful effort in the 1990s to overturn…

Chapter 59: Activism — By mid-1992, I had everything I could hope for: I was publicly out after decades in the closet, I had love, a prosperous career, and a family that seemed to be surviving despite what I had done to them. …

Chapter 58: Love Is A Wonderful Thing —