The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin

This production chronicles the life of writer Armistead Maupin (b. 1944). The release of his 1978 novel Tales of the City, a landmark event for many in the LGBTQ community, ultimately led to an extremely popular and groundbreaking PBS miniseries. There are surprising revelations here, such as Maupin's conservatism while growing up in the South, his enlistment during the Vietnam War, and his photograph with Richard Nixon, which he displayed long after he had rejected many of the ideas in which he had grown up believing. What isn't a surprise is that Maupin is a terrific talker, honest and witty. In addition to chat with Maupin and his family, friends, and colleagues is a wonderful collection of archival footage of San Francisco's Castro District and lively conversation of how the author's work has been pulled into the culture wars throughout his career.