Why subscribe to: Michael A. Horvich, Memoirs, Musings, and More?
Periodically, I like to post a piece that tells my readers who I am and what I write about. As my subscription list continues to grow, I want to make sure I introduce myself to new followers and reintroduce myself to previous ones.
I am an older, white, cis, gay, male who is widowed, retired, financially comfortable, Jewish, Buddhist, and privileged.
I write essays, memoirs, short stories, and poetry about what I know. My stories explore my personal experiences, growth, understandings, maturation, as well as the lessons I’ve learned, my insights, and philosophies about life, religion, sexuality, aging, death, Alzheimer’s Disease, QUEER Communty, and more. I find that as time passes, I continue to grow, change, and become more accepting of most things.
I write a lot about my experiences growing up gay. I was raised Jewish, but I consider myself Buddhist. I share my growth in this area. I taught elementary age children for thirty years, was a college professor, and public speaker addressing Alzheimer’s issues and discuss that as well. I am a collector of small things, I consider myself a photographer, and I write about my collections and share photographs on my Substack.
I write about and have become an ally and advocate for those “Not My” president trump and his minions have been attacking: the QUEER Community, especially the Transgender Community. Also, while I acknowledge the differences in groups and in my personal experiences with them and my situation in life, I am an ally and advocate for Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indigenous Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, Asian Americans, immigrants, the elderly, the poor, the homeless, and the disabled!
Lately, I have been struggling with the “Gay Alphabet”. It is easier to call myself part of the QUEER Community, as many have reclaimed the term from its earlier negative use, but I feel that the Alphabet is nicely inclusive as well I have been using: 2S L G B T Q I A Q A +, which means: Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, questioning, ally. The plus sign acknowledges that many sexual and gender minority people don’t see themselves in the umbrella acronym and prefer other identity terms such as pansexual, gender-free, and non-binary. Many in the QUEER Community do not embrace this “alphabet”.
I hope to share, through my writing, some of the lessons and experiences of my 80 years. I grew up during the 50s and came out during the 70s. It was not an easy time for Lesbians, Gay Men, BiSexual, and Transgender People. Those were the sum of labels used at that time. There were not many positive role models, gay characters on TV and in the theater, acceptance by family and friends, places in which to socialize, let alone "hook up."
While we still have a long way to go, and while our hard-earned rights are currently under fire ... being part of the QUEER Community today is much easier than when I first identified as part of that community long ago.
I have been through a lot, especially as a gay man and having lived through eight decades. I have experienced times during which:
it was an abomination and a sin for one person to love another of the same sex,
a time when it became more (notice I say more, not completely) acceptable,
a time when the fight for equal rights blossomed
a time when lesbians wanted their own label because men had been “running the show long enough”,
to a time when, in addition to homosexuality, transgenderism became more visible, even though it has always existed since the beginning of time,
to a time when acceptance seemed more available
to a time when it is all, once again, being called an abomination and a sin by so many, as goaded by the current administration and his cronies in the United States.
Truly ... love is love ... and my husband of 41 years lived the last 12 years of his life walking the Dementia/Alzheimer's Disease Path. He was not a VICTIM of Alzheimer's, he was a HERO! Through this ordeal, I learned many valuable lessons about love and about caring for another, which I share in the stories I post.
I was able to provide for his needs at home. Eventually, the needs became too great for me to deal with, short of turning the condo into a 24/7 hospital ward. He lived the last 18 months of his life at a memory care facility not far from the condo. I was able to spend time there with him every day.
My main job became making sure Gregory knew WHO he was, and WHERE he was. That he was in the RIGHT PLACE, doing the RIGHT THING, at the RIGHT TIME, and if lost, physically or emotionally, that I/we would always find each other. The concept of RIGHT would change, sometimes on a moment’s notice. He always knew who I was and was able to call me by name!
If others can relate to my writing, I have accomplished much.
If other LGBTQ+ community members can relate to any of my stories and feel better about themselves, I have accomplished a lot! You are not alone!
If you are an ally to the LGBTQIA+ Community, and I have helped you get to know us better, I have accomplished a great deal.
If you are someone who does not follow any labels or the usual ones, my stories still might interest, inform, or tickle you.
A Brief Biography: Michael A. Horvich
I hold my Bachelors of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana, additional degree work at Hunter College in New York, my Master’s Degree as Education Generalist with a concentration in Talented and Gifted Education from National Lewis University in Evanston, and an Advanced Certificate in Education Administration and Supervision, also from the University of Illinois in Urbana.
After a 30 year elementary school and university teaching career, I retired in 2000 but have been more than active as an educator, speaker, story teller, writer, poet, photographer, blogger, artist, jeweler, book binder, lecturer, actor, supernumerary, museum curator, flea circus ringmaster, Tarot card reader, spiritual advisor, and dementia/Alzheimer’s caregiver partner for my life husband Gregory Maire (RIP.)
During and continuing after my active career in education:
1) earned two fellowships from the State of Illinois in Talented and Gifted Education
2) was co-founder/secretary of the Illinois Association for The Gifted,
3) received a Chicago Council for the Arts grant,
4) won a competitive application residency in Non-Fiction Writing at The Ragdale Foundation inLake Forest, Ilinois,
5) was donor and curator of “Michael’s Museum: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures, a permanent exhibit it at Chicago Children’s Museum,
6) was co-creator of the documentary “ALZHEIMER’S: A Love Story” which won acceptance to 90+ film festivals locally, nationally, and internationally and won 35+ awards, and
7) was the founder of the More Than Ever Education Scholarship Fund, administered by La Casa Norte, a premier Chicago area not-for-profit supporting youth confronting homelessness.
I write every day: since retiring from teaching 30 years ago, having set myself this goal, I feel a sense of emptiness if I fail to meet it, which I rarely do.
I launched my Substack space: in June 2025 after writing for “Prism & Pen” on Medium.com for 4 years, so I can reach more readers with what some people call “Michael’s Wisdom.” I would not call it wisdom myself, if only because I just write about what I know (or at least think I know), and about what I have experienced, witnessed, felt, etc. People say my writing is like sitting around the kitchen table over a cup of coffee and some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Personally, I like mine with walnuts.
Sharing my love and stories is especially important to me now that I’ve just turned 80, and it feels good to get my writing out there, possibly to outlive me! This is especially important during these dark and dangerous times of the trump administration.
I have currently self-published 18 books. All are available at lulu.com. While all of my writing is done on my computer, and while all of the posting is done on website platforms, I still like holding a book in my hand and feeling the turning of each page as I read.
For this reason, I have collected all my writing into self-published volumes and published them on lulu.com. I formatted and proofread them, and created the covers, prefaces, introductions, tables of contents, and back cover blurbs with much enjoyment. When the proof copy arrives, I open it with great joy and thumb through each page with gleeful anticipation.
POETRY: Sit With Me a While
POETRY: Sit With Me a While Longer
POETRY: Sit With Me Another While Longer
COUNTING DOWN THE YARD STICK: A Past Life Memoir
A PONDERING: Thoughts on Thinking
GYROSCOPE: An Alzheimer’s Love Story and Caregiver Support Memoir
MICHAEL’S MUSEUM: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures―The Story
MICHAEL’S MUSEUM: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures―The Photos
THE MUSEUM OF MICHAEL’S MIND: Volume One of Michael’s Memoirs
THE MUSEUM OF MICHAEL’S MIND: Volume Two of Michael’s Memoirs
GAY STORIES AND POETRY: Written for Prism & Pen―Volume 1
GAY STORIES AND POETRY: Written for Prism & Pen―Volume 2
GAY STORIES AND POETRY: Written for Prism & Pen―Volume 3
GAY STORIES AND POETRY: Written for Prism & Pen―Volume 4
GOOD GRIEF Grieving the Death of a Loved One the Right Way … Your Way!
ALZHEIMER’S: The Musical — Love, Life, & Liberation
A RELATIONSHIP OF WRITERS—Conversations Between Two Writers: One Old, One Young
BEDTIME STORIES FOR OLDER KIDS—A Collection of Writings About Getting Older
Finally: If you enjoy my Substack, please subscribe. You can do so for FREE without obligation. Would love to see your name on my subscribers list. Thanks!
Another quote speaks to me as well:
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