CROSSING
BORDERS by Will
Carr
New Non-Fiction
CROSSING
BORDERS by Will
Carr
A 1950's personal travelogue and journey around the Mediterranean by a
then young
Jewish boy who came out as gay during the trip that engaged the heart and
mind.
Illustrated with many photographs.
What the reviewers
are saying:
Will
Carr and AJ
Will Carr's automobile journey, Crossing Borders, around the
Mediterranean Sea in 1953
bristles with relevance over fifty years later. Historicaly, we witness the
same smoldering
tensions over Palestine that divides Arabs and Jews today. On the personal
level, it's a
coming out saga for someone who not only discovers a world of ambiguous sexuality
but also comes to realize that he, too, is not one to limit himself to any
specific label.
Nevertheless, the sexual adventures of the naive, twenty-seven year old Will
with men
of several different nationalities dramatize the conflicts, both inner and
outer, of someone
who is trying to discover who he is during the terrors of the McCarthy era.
--- James Brogan, Professor of Gay Studies at San Francisco State University
-----------------------
Crossing Borders places us close to ther heart of a budding
gay man throughout his cautious
yet adventurous sexual awakening in the post-war 1950s. Examining gender
definition at new
peaks, Will ultimately arrives at the truth about his own sexual and spiritual
being. As readers
travel along with Will, we too benefit from this profound and beautiful trip
through mind, place,
and time.
--- Laurie Stapleton, Author
----------------------------
Though he's an elderly gent, now in his 80's, Will Carr's account of his
remarkable travels around
the Mediterranean more than half a century ago is invigoratingly fresh and
vivaciously perceptive.
Travel writing, coming out story, historical document: Crossing
Borders is a rewarding memoir
on all levels, the saga of a rich gay life from a senior still firing on
all cylinders.
--- Richard Labonte, Book Marks, Q Syndicate
--------------------------------
I found Will Carr's memoirs intriguing on many levels. He evoked emotions,
some dramatic,
some humorous, but never lacking in thought-provoking detail. The photos
taken during his
journey provide the reader with even more insight into the enjoyment of his
travels. Coming
from the more innocent and yet rigid Fifties, Crossing Borders
is the story of a young man
who, disdaining the usual travel by bus, train or plane, bought a new 1953
Renault in France,
and beginning with Paris, he traveled all around and through Europe and the
Mediterranean
countries. Had he listened to the religious and parental influences of the
time, he would
never have found the courage to make his amazing journey.
A particular quote in the beginning of Will's
story is one I will always remember. He said,
"Change is actually easy, because it's constant. Taking control of change
is where the
challenge lies. Otherwise we're nothing more than stones that are tossed
and shaped by
a forceful flow, a river of others' expectations." His adventures parallel
his efforts to discover
his sexual identity, who he was, and what he wanted from his life. Was it
a futile search?
Or did he succeed n finding what he searched for along the way? Crossing
Borders is
an emotional journey to be enjoyed by all.
---Pinkie Paranya, Author
-------------
In 1953, Will Carr, a twenty-seven year old gay Jewish man, leaves his safe
but
dull life in New York to seek adventure in Europe. Travelling alone,
he purchases a tiny Renault in Paris which will be his home and companion
for the next several months as he heads south into Italy and then on to all
the countries
bordering the Mediterranean.
Carr has set out on a voyage of discovery, propelled
not just by a desire to see
the world but also by the need to give himself the time and distance to explore
his
inner world. The borders of the title refer not just to those manmade
lines that divide
one country from another, but also the parameters of secrets that we all
carry.
In Carr's case the fact that he is Jewish is a secret
he prudently does not reveal in
the Middle East less than a decade after the creation of the state of Israel.
His
homosexuality, on the other hand, is a secret too long kept hidden and one
he longs
to share with another man.
Crossing Borders is the vivid, colourful account
of both those journeys from his
first romantic tryst in Rome to the unexpected adventures and friendships
that
dotted every stage of this rite of passage. Carr tells his story with frankness
and
a kind of wide-eyed wonder, sharing his fond memories of this stage of his
life and
of the young man he once was. Curious incidents, like his recurring visitor
who may
have been a CIA operative or the occasional hostility of border guards, could
not shake
his youthful optimism and faith in the basic kindness of people. It was often
his very
innocence that kept him safe in circumstances that only in retrospect did
he realize
were dangerous.
More than a fascinating travelogue, Crossing Borders
is a moving glimpse into the
life of a gay man almost twenty years before Stonewall, a great addition
to the
understanding of our history.
---Ralph Higgins, Wayves
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