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Ethan Mordden papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 655

Scope and Contents

The collection contains correspondence, writings, and other papers documenting the life and professional activities of author Ethan Mordden from the late 1960s to 1991. Correspondence, dating from the mid 1980s and early 1990s, contains letters from writers, actors, musicians and composers, publishers, and others, including Walta Borawski, Frank Ferko, Philip Gambone, Boze Hadleigh, Ron Hussman, Joey Manley, Kit Reed, and St. Martin's Press. Writings in the collection consist of notes and drafts two for novels, a book of film criticism entitled Medium Cool: The Movies of the 1960s (1990), and shorter works, including plays, stories, and essays. The novels, "Welcome Home, Adam" (1970) and "The Friends of Lady Butch" (circa 1973-1975), are identified as Mordden's unpublished first novel and an unfinished Hollywood novel respectively. Other papers include a small amount of printed and Yale University course material.

Dates

  • 1968-1991

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Box 7: Restricted until 2055. For further information consult the appropriate curator.

Conditions Governing Use

The Ethan Mordden Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Ethan Mordden, 1991.

Arrangement

Organized into three series: I. Correspondence, 1983-1991. II. Writings, 1970-1991. III. Other Papers, 1968-1981.

Extent

4.92 Linear Feet (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.mordden

Abstract

Collection contains correspondence, writings, and other papers documenting the life and professional activities of author Ethan Mordden from the late 1960s to 1991. Correspondence, dating from the mid 1980s and early 1990s, contains letters from writers, actors, musicians and composers, publishers, and others, including Walta Borawski, Frank Ferko, Philip Gambone, Boze Hadleigh, Ron Hussman, Joey Manley, Kit Reed, and St. Martin's Press. Writings in the collection consist of notes and drafts for two novels, a book of film criticism entitled Medium Cool: The Movies of the 1960s (1990), and shorter works, including plays, stories, and essays. The novels "Welcome Home, Adam" (1970) and "The Friends of Lady Butch" (circa 1973-1975) are identified as Mordden's unpublished first novel and an unfinished Hollywood novel respectively. Other papers include a small amount of printed and Yale University course material.

Ethan Mordden (1947-)

Ethan Mordden, born January 27, 1947, is an American cultural critic and novelist. He was educated in Quaker schools, including the Friends Academy in Locust Valley, New York, and at the University of Pennsylvania (1969). He worked as a musical director and coach in New York (1971-1974), as an assistant editor of Opera News (1974-1976), and a visiting fellow at Yale University (1980). He has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker, the New York Times, and Christopher Street, among other publications. In addition to books on music, theater, and film, he publishes fiction on gay life, especially in the "Buddies" cycle, including I've a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Tales from Gay Manhattan (1985), Buddies (1986), and Everybody Loves You: Further Adventures in Gay Manhattan (1988).

Biographical information taken from "Ethan Mordden." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. New York: Schirmer, 2001. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 25 Oct. 2012.

Processing Information

In 2012 this collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization.

The finding aid for this collection is largely compiled from a preliminary list created at or around the time of receipt by the library. The preliminary list was migrated to comply with current archival descriptive standards in 2007-2008. As part of the migration, modifications were made to the formatting of the list; however, the content of the list was neither modified nor verified.

As a rule, descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.

This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.

Former call number: Uncat Za MS 181.

Title
Guide to the Ethan Mordden Papers
Author
by Beinecke staff
Date
2009-08-04
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.