On this date the great gay poet and filmmaker JAMES BROUGHTON died in Port Townshend, Washington (b. 1913). Broughton was a poet, poetic filmmaker, and practitioner of “Big Joy,” a pan-sexual Dionysian approach to life. He’s been called the father of the West Coast experimental film movement in the wake of World War II, was part of the San Francisco Renaissance, a literary movement that included Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Duncan, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and others. He was an early bard of the Radical Faeries. White Crane Books published a collection of Broughton’s work, ALL: A JAMES BROUGHTON READER, Edited by Jack Foley. It is available as an eBook download at http://www.whitecranebooks.org/broughton.html

There is also a great documentary film project called “Big Joy!” that tells the story of this great man of love and compassion. We highly recommend your visiting their website for more information. 

Broughton’s surviving husband Joel Singer also shared this short film about Broughton’s passing here:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnuSKLgzriY&t=2s

Enjoy.