Felice Picano

Felice Picano – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Delve into the life, works, and enduring legacy of Felice Picano, an American writer, publisher, and champion of gay literature. Explore his early years, literary contributions, influence on LGBTQ+ voices, notable works and quotations, and the lessons his life offers.

Introduction

Felice Picano (born February 22, 1944 – died March 12, 2025) was a prolific American writer, memoirist, critic, playwright, and publisher whose work has been deeply influential in shaping gay literature in the United States. He was not only a creator of numerous novels, memoirs, poetry, plays, and essays, but also a mentor, editor, and publisher who helped bring many LGBTQ+ voices to the fore. His life spanned a transformative period in American culture: from the discreet mid-20th-century world of hidden queer lives to more open and contested terrain. Through both his literary works and his institutional efforts, Picano left an indelible mark on queer letters and American writing more broadly.

Early Life and Family

Felice Anthony Picano was born on February 22, 1944, in Queens, New York City. He grew up in a middle-class Italian American family; his parents were Philip (a grocer) and Ann (Del Santo) Picano. He graduated cum laude from Queens College (City University of New York) in 1964 with a B.A. in English.

Education, Early Career & Influences

After college, Picano worked in various jobs — from social work in New York City to bookstore management — before fully dedicating himself to writing. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he worked in bookshops (including Rizzoli on Fifth Avenue) and as a writer, typographer, editor, and bookstore assistant — roles that immersed him in literary life and the networks of authors and publishers. He was part of the New York literary milieu, encountering figures like Gore Vidal, Edward Gorey, Robert Mapplethorpe, and others in Greenwich Village and beyond — relationships he later documented in memoirs.

His early exposure to queer social life, literary communities, and the constraints upon LGBTQ+ expression in mid-20th-century America shaped his sensibilities and his literary mission.

Career and Achievements

Literary Works & Genre Versatility

Picano’s output was remarkable in its breadth. He published:

• Novels & Short Fiction: Titles include Smart as the Devil (1975), Eyes (1975), The Mesmerist (1977), The Lure (1979), Like People in History (1995), Onyx (2001), The Book of Lies (1998), and many others.

• Memoirs & Autobiographical Work: Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children (1985), Men Who Loved Me, A House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay, Art & Sex in Greenwich Village, True Stories, Nights at Rizzoli, among others.

• Poetry, Drama & Screenwriting: He wrote poetry (e.g. The Deformity Lover and Other Poems, Window Elegies), plays such as One O’Clock Jump, Immortal, The Bombay Trunk, and screenplays (including an adaptation of Eyes).

• Nonfiction & orial Work: Among his nonfiction, perhaps his best-known is The New Joy of Gay Sex (co-authored with Charles Silverstein), which updated a classic manual to reflect modern understandings of sexuality.

Picano’s writing was not confined to one style: he moved among genres, often embracing elements of thriller, eroticism, memoir, and historical reflection. He was committed to representing queer lives and sexual realities honestly, even when that provoked controversy.

One of his most controversial and daring early works, Ambidextrous: The Secret Lives of Children (1985), is a semi-autobiographical exploration of childhood sexuality and emerging identity. Upon its initial British publication, it was burned at the docks in Liverpool for being too provocative.

Another key work, The Lure (1979), is a psychological thriller set in a gay milieu and was the first gay-themed work selected by the Book of the Month Club.

His Like People in History (1995) drew on his life and the broader cultural shifts: Edmund White called it the “gay Gone With the Wind.”

Publisher, or & Literary Advocate

Picano’s influence extended beyond his own writing. He was a tireless advocate and supporter of queer authors, editing anthologies, founding presses, and mentoring younger writers:

• In 1977, he founded SeaHorse Press, a pioneering press devoted to gay literature.

• In 1981, he co-founded Gay Presses of New York (along with Terry Helbing and Larry Mitchell), serving as or-in-Chief.

• He was one of the founding members of The Violet Quill, a literary circle of gay male writers (including Andrew Holleran, Edmund White, Robert Ferro, Michael Grumley, George Whitmore, Christopher Cox). This group is widely regarded as foundational in forming modern gay literature.

• Through his presses and editorial work, he introduced or supported the publication of writers such as Dennis Cooper, Harvey Fierstein, Gavin Dillard, Brad Gooch, and others.

• He served as critic, book reviewer, and contributor in magazines like The Advocate, Mandate, Christopher Street, Out, San Francisco Examiner, Blueboy, Lambda Book Report and more.

Picano’s role as editor and publisher was vital: he didn’t just write; he built the infrastructure that allowed queer writing to flourish in the latter 20th century.

Awards, Honors & Recognition

Throughout his career, Picano was recognized with many honors:

• He was nominated for the PEN/Hemingway Award early in his career (for Smart as the Devil).

• He won the Ferro-Grumley Award and the Gay Times of England Award (for Like People in History, among others).

• He earned the Syndicated Fiction/PEN Award for best short story.

• He won the Jane Chambers Play Award (1985) for One O’Clock Jump.

• He received the Lambda Literary Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2010.

• The City of West Hollywood awarded him a Rainbow Award and Citation in 2013.

• He also held recognition from literary and LGBTQ+ communities as a mentor, trailblazer, and institutional builder.

Historical & Cultural Context

Picano’s life and work spanned eras of immense change in LGBT rights, visibility, culture, and literature. In the 1970s and early 1980s, gay literature was still marginalized; explicit works, queer themes, and open identity carried social and professional risks. Picano and his peers in the Violet Quill challenged those limits and demanded that queer lives be represented in full, including their complexity, desires, and contradictions.

During the height of the AIDS epidemic, many of his peers passed away; Picano wrote and edited in an era marked by grief, activism, and urgency. His literary and publishing efforts helped sustain queer literary communities during those decades.

As public acceptance gradually increased, and queer themes became more common in mainstream culture, Picano’s earlier boldness and institution-building laid groundwork for later generations of LGBTQ+ writers to operate more freely.

Legacy and Influence

Felice Picano’s legacy is multifaceted:

1. Foundational figure in gay literature
   Through writing, publishing, and editing, he helped define and legitimize gay fiction, memoir, and poetry in the U.S.

2. Mentor and bridge-builder
   He nurtured younger writers, connected literary networks, and expanded opportunities for others to publish openly queer work.

3. Voice of queer history and memory
   His memoirs and historical reflections preserve a record of queer life in eras otherwise underdocumented.

4. Genre and stylistic versatility
   His willingness to traverse genres (thriller, gothic, memoir, drama, poetry) showcased both literary daring and communicative reach.

5. Cultural institution-builder
   By founding presses and contributing to editorial infrastructures, he deepened the institutional presence of queer literature.

6. Model of persistence and authenticity
   Over decades, Picano maintained a commitment to honesty, even when that meant confronting taboo, criticism, or resistance.

Though he passed away on March 12, 2025, his influence lives on in the writers he fostered, the communities he supported, and the books he left behind.

Personality & Artistic Traits

Picano was known as a generous, witty, sharp-minded storyteller. He often greeted younger writers by asking, “What are you working on now?” — signaling genuine interest and encouragement.

He was unafraid to expose the messy, erotic, and ambivalent sides of queer life, resisting sanitization. His writing embraced nuance, contradiction, and vulnerability.

As an editor and publisher, he was firm but supportive, offering candid feedback to authors while championing their visibility.

He also maintained a sharp sense of humor and storytelling flair, often recalling and sharing anecdotal stories involving literary and celebrity figures, mingling personal and cultural memories.

Famous Quotes of Felice Picano

Here are a few notable lines that reflect Picano’s literary spirit, convictions, and perspective:

“We were all looking for other gay writers to discuss what gay literature could or would be and how we would go about doing it.”

“The Lure … was the first gay-themed book to be selected by the Book of the Month Club.” (On the importance of mainstream recognition)

“What are you working on now?” — a question he is remembered for asking younger writers, signaling mentorship and genuine interest.

While Picano is less known for pithy aphorisms than for narrative depth and archival richness, his actions and editorial decisions often spoke louder than quotes.

Lessons from Felice Picano

From his life, the following enduring lessons emerge:

1. Build infrastructure, not just art
   Creating presses, editing anthologies, and supporting writers can magnify one’s impact more than individual fame.

2. Honesty matters
   Picano’s commitment to narrating the full complexity of queer lives (including sexuality, shame, desire) helped normalize authenticity.

3. Mentorship is legacy
   Encouraging, critiquing, and uplifting others sustains and grows a creative culture beyond one’s own work.

4. Courage in adversity
   Writing openly queer work in less accepting eras required moral and professional courage — one must persist when the terrain is hostile.

5. Versatility as strength
   Flexibility in genre, medium, and form can help an artist respond to changing times and reach different audiences.

6. Memory and archival importance
   By recording queer lives, Picano preserved stories that otherwise might be lost to silence or erasure.

Conclusion

Felice Picano’s life was an act of cultural witness, literary risk, and community building. As a writer, he turned his own experience into narratives that could resonate, challenge, and provoke. As editor and publisher, he carved institutional spaces for queer voices to be heard. His legacy is woven into the fabric of gay literary history.