Host Jason Blitman talks to author Daniel Black (Isaac's Song) about father-son relationships, masculinity, vulnerability, and Black's Rate My Professor reviews. Jason then welcomes this week's Guest Gay Reader, former NFL player R.K. Russell (The Yards Between Us) and they talk about books and representation in sports and literature.

Daniel Black is an author and professor of African American studies at Clark Atlanta University. His books include The Coming, Perfect Peace and They Tell Me of a Home. He is the winner of the Distinguished Writer Award from the Middle-Atlantic Writer's Association and has been nominated for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, the Ernest J. Gaines Award,and the Georgia Author of the Year Award. He was raised in Blackwell, Arkansas, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

R.K. Russell is a former professional football player in the NFL, and is a published author, social justice advocate, poet, essayist, and artist. In August of 2019, Russell made history by becoming the first out active NFL player to identify as bisexual. Now in his powerful memoir The Yards Between Us, he shares his story and explores his love of football, the devastating tightrope of keeping his sexuality a secret, the tension between his private and public life, and the importance of crashing through barriers. A decorated defensive end who has played for the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has sacked Hall of Famers and gone up against the fiercest competitors at the height of their game.

Support the show

BOOK CLUB!
Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE
November Book: I Am You by Victoria Redel

SUBSTACK!
https://gaysreading.substack.com/

MERCH!
http://gaysreading.printful.me

WATCH!
https://youtube.com/@gaysreading

FOLLOW!
Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitman
Bluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitman

CONTACT!
[email protected]