Lesléa Newman

Lesléa Newman, gay rights activist and author of many books including the children’s classic, Heather Has Two Mommies, talks about the nature of hate in our communities through literature. The Matthew Shepard Foundation is proud to have her as a member of our speakers bureau.

Ms. Newman’s presentation, “He Continues to Make a Difference: The Story of Matthew Shepard” uses poetry, photographs, and creative visualization to lead audience members through a personal and communal journey that illustrates the effects of violence and hate, and shows how every one of us can make a difference to erase hate and make the world a safer place.

As the keynote speaker for Gay Awareness Week at the University of Wyoming in 1998, Lesléa Newman arrived on campus shortly after Matt was attacked, and saw firsthand the profound effect hate can have on a person, a community, a state, and a nation. Her presentation challenges every one of us to carry on Matt’s legacy and work for peace and justice for all.

Lesléa Newman is the author of 64 books including A Letter to Harvey Milk, Nobody’s Mother, Hachiko Waits, Write from the Heart, The Boy Who Cried Fabulous, The Best Cat in the World, and Heather Has Two Mommies.

She has received many literary awards including Poetry Fellowships from the Massachusetts Artists Fellowship Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award, the James Baldwin Award for Cultural Achievement, and three Pushcart Prize Nominations. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award finalists. She is a faculty member of Spalding University’s brief-residency MFA in Writing program.

Ms. Newman wrote Heather Has Two Mommies, the first children’s book to portray with two lesbian moms in a positive way, and has followed up this pioneering work with several more children’s books on lesbian and gay families: Felicia’s Favorite Story; Mommy, Mama, and Me; Daddy, Papa, and Me; and Donovan’s Big Day.

She is also the author of many books for adults that deal with lesbian identity, Jewish identity and the intersection and collision between the two. Other topics Ms. Newman explores include AIDS, eating disorders, butch/femme relationships and sexual abuse. Her award-winning short story, “A Letter To Harvey Milk,” has been made into a film and adapted for the stage. October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, a book of poems that explores the impact of Matthew Shepard’s murder upon the world, is forthcoming from Candlewick Press in fall of 2012.

The Fence

I held him all night long
He was heavy as a broken heart
Tears fell from his unblinking eyes
He was dead weight yet he kept breathing

He was heavy as a broken heart
His own heart wouldn’t stop beating
He was dead weight yet he kept breathing
His face streaked with moonlight and blood

His own heart wouldn’t stop beating
The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing
His face streaked with moonlight and blood
I tightened my grip and held on

The cold wind wouldn’t stop blowing
We were out on the prairie alone
I tightened my grip and held on
I saw what was done to this child

We were out on the prairie alone
Their truck was the last thing he saw
I saw what was done to this child
I cradled him just like a mother

Their truck was the last thing he saw
Tears fell from his unblinking eyes
I cradled him just like a mother
I held him all night long

© Lesléa Newman

For more information on Lesléa and her books, visit www.LesleaNewman.com