Collection

Oral history interview with Joel Redon

• 1992-11-01 - 1994-02-18 (Creation)

.1 cubic feet; 5 audiocassettes (4 hr., 43 min., 38 sec.)

This oral history interview with Joel Redon was conducted by Rick Harmon at Harmon's home and at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, from November 1, 1992, to February 18, 1994. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on November 1, 1992, Redon discusses his family background and early life in Portland, Oregon, including his education and early interest in writing. He speaks about his sexual identity as a gay man and describes how he came to accept that label. He talks about running away from home and dropping out of high school at age 16, relocating to Seattle, Washington, and earning his GED. He talks about working as an interviewer for the Willamette Week newspaper in Portland and discusses some of the people he interviewed. He also briefly speaks about coming out and about changing his name from Bruce Randolph Didzun to Joel Redon in 1980. He speaks at length about his relationships with Paul Bowles, Allan Ginsburg, and Tennessee Williams. He talks about returning to Oregon and his relationship with a man he identifies as Jeffrey, and he describes the Portland gay social scene in the 1980s. He speaks about the end of the gay lifestyle in Portland at the end of the 1980s and the causes of its destruction; talks about the evolution of gay rights advocacy groups; and talks about the effect of AIDS on the gay community. He speaks at length about living with his own AIDS diagnosis, as well as his opposition to AZT (azidothymidine) treatments. He also discusses writing his semi-autobiographical novel "Bloodstream" and talks about the differences between himself and the novel's protagonist, Peter, and discusses writing his other novels.

In the second interview session, conducted on February 18, 1994, Redon discusses the book "A Voice Through a Cloud," by Denton Welch. He speaks about the AIDS epidemic and its toll on the gay community. He talks about the novel he was working on at the time of the interview in 1994 and describes some of the people he was writing about. He discusses events between the time of the first interview session in 1992 and this session in 1994, particularly regarding his unpublished writing and his mental and physical health. He then talks about his experiences and the writing process for "The Road to Zena" and "If Not on Earth, Then in Heaven." He discusses other authors living with AIDS and some of their works; reflects on his feelings and experiences upon being diagnosed with AIDS in 1986; and describes his current support system. He speaks at length about living with AIDS. He closes the interview by talking about seeing a therapist, about his plans to donate his papers to the Oregon Historical Society after his death, and about his unpublished journal.

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.

• English

The Oregon Historical Society Research Library also holds Joel Redon's papers, Mss 2956, which include copies of Redon's unpublished works that are discussed in this interview. The library also holds a sound recording of a church service at the Zena Church, SR 1028, which features a reading by Redon.

Joel Redon papers, 2005-30, GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco, California.

Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Joel Redon, by Rick Harmon, SR 1027, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition.

Sarah Stroman

• AIDS (Disease) in literature
• AIDS (Disease)--Patients
• AIDS (Disease)--United States
• Authors, American--Oregon
• Gay bars--Oregon--Portland
• Gay rights
• Gays--Oregon

• Harmon, Rick (Contributor)
• Bowles, Paul, 1910-1999 (Subject)
• Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997 (Subject)
• Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983 (Subject)

• Interviews