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Finding aid to the Paul Reed Papers, 1958-2002
GLC 57
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Table of contents
Title: Paul Reed Papers
Date (inclusive): 1958-2002
Date (bulk): 1984-2002
Collection Identifier: GLC 57
Creator:
Reed, Paul, 1956-2002
Physical Description:
4 cartons
(4.0 cubic feet)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: Paul Reed was an author from San Francisco, California. Greatly influenced by the AIDS epidemic, his fiction focuses on the
gay community from the 1980s through the 1990s. His published journals and other works of non-fiction record his fight with
AIDS for more than twelve years.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English, Dutch and French.
The collection is open for research. Photographs are available during San Francisco Historical Photographs desk hours. Please
call the San Francisco History Center for hours and information at 415-557-4567.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Paul Reed Papers (GLC 57), Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Gift of Paul Reed, 1995. Second accretion, gift of Matt Flynn, 2004. Third and fourth accretions, gifts of Bill Brent, 2011-2012.
Reed's books not in this collection are in the San Francisco Public Library catalog. Photographs have been transferred to
the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection.
Existence and Location of Originals note
Within the collection there are some photocopies of correspondence created by Reed from the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection
of English and American Literature, New York Public Library.
Collection includes CD-ROMs, audiocassette tapes, and slides.
This collection contains correspondence, drafts, publications, clippings and personal records. The material matter is about
the affect of AIDS on the gay culture in San Francisco in the 1980s and 1990s. The correspondence series is comprised of personal
and professional correspondence arranged by the name of the correspondent. The essay, fiction, and poetry draft series includes
handwritten and typed drafts of Reed's work arranged by title. The publication series contains publications and records of
Reed's work arranged by the publication date. These are followed by publications of materials relevant to Reed's work. The
newspaper and magazine clippings series are arranged by subject of Reed’s reviews, work, and interests. The personal records
and miscellaneous ephemera series includes CDs, photographs, slides, and cassette tapes relating to Reed’s work as well as
personal items.
The collection is arranged into five series: Series 1. Correspondence; Series 2. Essay, Fiction, and Poetry Drafts; Series
3. Publications; Series 4. Newspaper and Magazine Clippings; and Series 5. Personal Records and Miscellaneous Ephemera.
Paul Richard Hustoft was born on May 28, 1956, in San Diego, California to Sigurd William and Melva (Moffat) Hustoft. After
his father's death, his mother married Floyd Reed, a Baptist minister in Delano. He took his stepfather's name in 1969.
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at California State University, Chico in 1978 and another degree in Anthropology
the following year. In 1981 he graduated with his Master of Arts degree in Social Anthropology from the University of California,
Davis. Reed moved to San Francisco and worked as a file clerk at Ten Speed Press/Celestial Arts Publishing in Berkeley. By
1989 Reed had worked his way to being an Editor-in-Chief. Reed left Celestial Arts Publishing in 1991 because of his disability
due to AIDS.
Reed started writing full time. His articles appeared in the
San Francisco Chronicle, the
Bay Area Reporter,
The Advocate, and
Blueboy. Reed wrote gay erotica in the early 1980s, and published subsequent collections of his work under the name Max Exander.
Even before Reed was diagnosed with ARC in 1987, he felt the need to write about the AIDS epidemic. In 1984 he published his
first novel,
Facing It, which is proclaimed the first novel about AIDS. His other novels
Longing (1988) and
Vertical Intercourse (2000) also deal with the effect of AIDS on the gay community in San Francisco. Reed chronicled his fight with AIDS in three
treatment journals,
The Q Journal (1991),
The Savage Garden (1994), and
The Redwood Diary (2001).
Reed died on January 28, 2002, at the age of 45. His last novel,
Swollen, a collection of erotic short stories, was published in June of 2002.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Reed, Paul, 1956-2002--Archives
Reed, Paul, 1956-2002--Diaries
AIDS (Disease)--Patients--California--Biography
AIDS (Disease)--Patients--California--San Francisco--Diaries
Gay authors--California--San Francisco--Diaries
Gay men and AIDS