Gay Chicago Memories

<h2><span style=color: var(--ast-global-color-2)>From the Author of </span><em style=color: var(--ast-global-color-2)>Man's Country: More Than a Bathhouse</em></h2><h2><strong style=color: var(--ast-global-color-2)>A Very Queer Street-Before there was North Halsted there was 1300 N. Wells</strong></h2><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Long before the rainbow flags flew high on Chicago's North Side a single block on Wells Street pulsed with the heat and heart of gay liberation. </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Carol's Speakeasy</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Den One</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> the notorious </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Bijou Theater</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Glory Hole Tavern</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> adult bookstores backrooms and cruising alleys-it was all there hidden in plain sight on the east side of the 1300 block. And then it vanished.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Chicago Memories: 1300 N. Wells</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> the lost world of 1970s and '80s queer nightlife roars back to life. Through candid interviews with patrons bartenders and performers plus unearthed ads articles and forgotten ephemera author Owen Keehnen uncovers the stories behind the storefronts. This is more than nightlife nostalgia-it's a raw riveting portrait of a revolutionary era in Chicago's gay community.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>From the acclaimed author of </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Man's Country: More Than a Bathhouse</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Dugan's Bistro and the Legend of the Bearded Lady</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> comes a thrilling excavation of LGBTQ+ history sex joy danger and resilience-just one block south of forgotten.</span></p><p></p>