David Toussaint
Encyclopedia
David Toussaint is an American writer, commentator, theater critic and playwright.
, Toussaint is the youngest of five children including Beth Toussaint
. Toussaint's first poem was published in a Contra Costa County elementary school competition when he was in second grade. While in high school, he was an intern for the Contra Costa Times
in Walnut Creek and eventually was hired as an assistant to the real estate editor. From 1977 to 1979, Toussaint attended the American Conservatory Theater
and toured as an actor throughout California with the Theater's Young Conservatory group. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles with a major in English literature
. Toussaint now lives in Manhattan
.
, Working Woman, Instinct
, RealJack.com, Gay Financial Network
, Outsider Ink, OurWeddingDay.com, Caribbean Travel and Life and Diversion magazine. He has been an editor at Conde Nast
and a three-time Guest Editor for Francis Ford Coppola
's ASME-award-winning online magazine Zoetrope - All Story Extra. Currently he writes a weekly column and is a theater critic for EDGE magazine http://www.edgeunitedstates.com.
In 2003, Toussaint wrote an article entitled Outward Bound on same-sex weddings for Brides magazine. It was the first article on gay
and lesbian
weddings ever published by any of the five major, top-selling bridal magazines and its publication created a significant controversy when reported by the New York Times. Toussaint's article opened the door to mainstream cultural acceptance of same-sex weddings.
Because of his work, Danielle Durkin of Random House
approached Toussaint to write Gay and Lesbian Weddings: Planning the Perfect Same-Sex Ceremony which was published by Ballantine Books
in 2004. Evan Wolfson
, Executive Director, Freedom to Marry
commented about Toussaint's book: "While gay people's struggle to win the right to marry continues, weddings are already happening -- and gay couples, their families, and friends planning their celebration will benefit from the advice..." And, Rita Mae Brown
wrote: "If you’re going to tie the knot (so long as it’s not around your partner’s neck), this is the book for you."
Toussaint's original one-act play, Backstage Bitches, was produced and directed by him and ran for two consecutive summers in New York City
(1998–1999). The play starred a young Jake Robards, son of Jason Robards
, in his professional acting debut and whose career now includes many movies and television roles.
TOUSSAINT! by David Toussaint, was published by Stay Thirsty Press, a division of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc., in May 2009, first as an eBook on the Amazon Kindle
Platform for the Kindle, the iPhone
and the iPod touch
. Drawn from thirty-six columns Toussaint wrote mostly for EDGE, he uses current events, pop culture and politics
to tell his personal story.
Gay and Lesbian Weddings: Planning the Perfect Same-Sex Ceremony, Ballantine, 2004
The Dream of the Rabbits, Snow Monkey, 2002
Queer Window - A Chelsea "Horror" Story, Outsider Ink, 1999
Biography
Born on April 23, 1964 to Maynard and Leona Toussaint in Walnut Creek, CaliforniaWalnut Creek, California
Walnut Creek is an incorporated city located east of the city of Oakland. It lies in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. While not as large as neighboring Concord, Walnut Creek serves as the business and entertainment hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa...
, Toussaint is the youngest of five children including Beth Toussaint
Beth Toussaint
Elizabeth Toussaint is an American actress. She is best known for her television performances.-Biography:Toussaint appeared in the 1984 music video for Bon Jovi's song "She Don't Know Me", Bob Seger's 1986 song "Like a Rock", and in the 1987 music video for SAGA's song "Only Time Will Tell".From...
. Toussaint's first poem was published in a Contra Costa County elementary school competition when he was in second grade. While in high school, he was an intern for the Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area...
in Walnut Creek and eventually was hired as an assistant to the real estate editor. From 1977 to 1979, Toussaint attended the American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
and toured as an actor throughout California with the Theater's Young Conservatory group. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles with a major in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. Toussaint now lives in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Career
Since 1997, Toussaint has written articles for Brides magazine, Conde Nast TravelerCondé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
, Working Woman, Instinct
Instinct
Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior.The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern, in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a...
, RealJack.com, Gay Financial Network
Gay Financial Network
The Gay Financial Network was created by Walter Schubert in April 1998. It aims at singling out businesses which practise discrimination with regards to sexual orientation. It was the first gay-specific company to be advertised in The Wall Street Journal, on February 18, 2000. It has been seen as...
, Outsider Ink, OurWeddingDay.com, Caribbean Travel and Life and Diversion magazine. He has been an editor at Conde Nast
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
and a three-time Guest Editor for Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's ASME-award-winning online magazine Zoetrope - All Story Extra. Currently he writes a weekly column and is a theater critic for EDGE magazine http://www.edgeunitedstates.com.
In 2003, Toussaint wrote an article entitled Outward Bound on same-sex weddings for Brides magazine. It was the first article on gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
weddings ever published by any of the five major, top-selling bridal magazines and its publication created a significant controversy when reported by the New York Times. Toussaint's article opened the door to mainstream cultural acceptance of same-sex weddings.
Because of his work, Danielle Durkin of Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
approached Toussaint to write Gay and Lesbian Weddings: Planning the Perfect Same-Sex Ceremony which was published by Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
in 2004. Evan Wolfson
Evan Wolfson
Evan Wolfson is an American civil rights attorney and advocate. He is founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, a group favoring same-sex marriage in the United States...
, Executive Director, Freedom to Marry
Freedom to Marry
Freedom to Marry is a non-profit organization leading the campaign for same-sex marriages to be recognized nationwide in the United States of America...
commented about Toussaint's book: "While gay people's struggle to win the right to marry continues, weddings are already happening -- and gay couples, their families, and friends planning their celebration will benefit from the advice..." And, Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time...
wrote: "If you’re going to tie the knot (so long as it’s not around your partner’s neck), this is the book for you."
Toussaint's original one-act play, Backstage Bitches, was produced and directed by him and ran for two consecutive summers in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(1998–1999). The play starred a young Jake Robards, son of Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
, in his professional acting debut and whose career now includes many movies and television roles.
TOUSSAINT! by David Toussaint, was published by Stay Thirsty Press, a division of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc., in May 2009, first as an eBook on the Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle
The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader developed by Amazon.com subsidiary Lab126 which uses wireless connectivity to enable users to shop for, download, browse, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media...
Platform for the Kindle, the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and the iPod touch
IPod touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
. Drawn from thirty-six columns Toussaint wrote mostly for EDGE, he uses current events, pop culture and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
to tell his personal story.
Non-fiction
TOUSSAINT!, Stay Thirsty Press, 2009Gay and Lesbian Weddings: Planning the Perfect Same-Sex Ceremony, Ballantine, 2004
Short fiction
Fire, Literary Potpourri, 2003The Dream of the Rabbits, Snow Monkey, 2002
Queer Window - A Chelsea "Horror" Story, Outsider Ink, 1999
External links
- Stay Thirsty Lures Veteran Writers, Publishers Weekly, by Edward Nawotka, June 29, 2009.http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6667832.html
- Talking About: David Toussaint, Talking About - Podcast Interview by Jon Griffith and JC Alvarez, June 2009 http://talkingabout.podomatic.com/player/web/2009-07-03T09_46_57-07_00
- Thirsty Features TOUSSAINT! by David Toussaint, May, 2009, staythirsty.com http://www.staythirstymedia.com/200905-033/html/200905-toussaint-feature.html