Becoming Wilkinson

Send us Fan Mail The last two weeks, I visited my middle son Dave, his wife Meredith and my two grandsons Henry and Jack at their home in Dartmouth MA. Dave is a good sport.  He agreed to be interviewed for my podcast.  After we were finished, he told me that it was now my turn and that he was going to interview ME for a podcast episode! I was surprised at what I was feeling at first.  I guess I w...

Send us Fan Mail An Interview with my middle son: Dave Wilkinson. We chat about his journey from each of our perspectives, his family, his business and his perspective when I came out to him as a gay man in 1999. In this episode, I interview one of my favorite people in this world: my son David.  Two people can experience the exact same event and yet they can have two different perspectives on wha...

Send us Fan Mail Boy Scotty, Mr. Phoenix Leather 2018, is a former President of the Phoenix boys of Leather. He is a BDSM educator teaching classes on the Violet Wand, Role Play, and his experience as a leather boy. He is a former professional actor and acting teacher from New York City, which is how he developed his “Expanding the Self Through Role Play” class. He is Alpha boy in the Leather Hous...

Send us Fan Mail Luke Yankee Has written, directed, produced, taught, lectured and acted throughout the country and abroad. He has run two regional theatres, serving as Producing Artistic Director of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera  and the Struthers Library theatre. Luke’s published plays include THE LAST LIFEBOAT and A PLACE AT FOREST LAWN , both published by Dramatists Play Service.   His othe...

Send us Fan Mail Donal Brophy proudly hails from Dublin Ireland and found his love of storytelling growing up there.  Donal moved to NYC to study acting under the legendary Bill Esper. After graduating he worked extensively in the New York downtown theater and Independent cinema scene. In 2008, to satisfy his love and knowledge of Scotch Whisky, Donal opened his first gastro pub, the west village...

Send us Fan Mail EMRHYS COOPER Originally from Devon, England. After training at the Central School Ballet, he transferred to the Laine Theatre Arts London, where he focused on acting and musical theater.  Emrhys found considerable success after graduating in acclaimed West End shows such as Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Fame: The Musical’. Other notable theater credits include: The title role i...

Send us Fan Mail Kai Brothers Kai was born in Santa Cruz in the 1960’s and spent his early years there with his family, going to school and growing into an out gay person living life to the fullest- starting a career, dating guys and doing whatever theater opportunities that came along.  At 18 he moved to San Francisco to begin his adult life, where he continued his career, finding his community a...

Send us Fan Mail Kai Brothers Kai was born in Santa Cruz in the 1960’s and spent his early years there with his family, going to school and growing into an out gay person living life to the fullest- starting a career, dating guys and doing whatever theater opportunities that came along.  At 18 he moved to San Francisco to begin his adult life, where he continued his career, finding his community a...

Send us Fan Mail Kaye Laine is a person of many talents. She has designed clothes for LA music awards, and owned her own clothing line. She has had the opportunity to model in LA fashion week and she once worked as a ring girl in Yuma Arizona. Kaye has modeled in many lookbooks, catalogs, and was even nominated Latin model of the year, though she is not Latin. She was Miss Abril, for Viva Latino A...

Send us Fan Mail Jason Mannino Jason has decades of experience in multiple various careers that overlap including careers as an Executive Search Consultant, Executive Coach, Singer, Actor.   In Executive Search Jason has partnered with a variety of mission-driven clients both in house and with some of the world’s top executive recruiting agencies including Korn Ferry and Koya Partners (a division...

Send us Fan Mail Michael Vaccaro had ended a 16 year relationship.  In the dumps, he searched the internet for sad songs and poems to match his melancholy mood.  But he found one poem that was uplifting.  He liked the poem so much that he printed it out and put it in his wallet, where he carried it for five or six years.  Then one day he met a man who embodied what was written in the poem.  They w...

Send us Fan Mail David Zecca describes the amazing gay journey that's brought him to where he is today. He talks about the hardships of his childhood as a young boy -  discovering his sexual identity,  being on his own and learning how to survive. He's had multiple careers and he's truly very entrepreneurial! He discusses what made him get into sex work for a season and he shares th...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Oppenheimer is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, with a private practice in Palm Springs.  Steve also has over 30 years of executive-level business experience, and has worked with several Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Universal Health Services and J Walter Thompson.  In 2021, Steve made a career pivot and transitioned from his role of Hospital CEO to bec...

Send us Fan Mail Scott Vitale is a gay man who weighed 312 pounds when he went in for his annual check up.  His doctor said: "Scott, you're going to die". Scott: "Everyone is going to die."' Doc: "No, I mean soon." He was told that if he didn't lose a lot of his 312 pounds, that would be it... He was then referred to a doctor who did bariatric surgery. ...

Send us Fan Mail Brett Paesel is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, “Mommies Who Drink, Sex, Drugs, and Other Distant Memories of an Ordinary Mom”  (Warner) and the novel, “Everything is Just Fine” (Grand Central). Paesel’s humorous essays have appeared in several collections including “Toddler”, “Behind the Bedroom Door”, “Lights, Action, Travel”, and “Afterbirth”. She has been a con...

Send us Fan Mail STEVEN SKEELS SINGER • SONGWRITER • ACTOR • PRODUCER "TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE" - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Steven was living the "perfect" life in NYC.  He was married to the man who was the love of his life and they were both living an enviable, successful life on stage and in the arts.  Then one day, after picking up his husband Jerad after his matinee performanc...

Send us Fan Mail In 2015, Alan Fraser was in the best physical condition of his life.  But then one day after training he went home and realized that something just wasn't right.  Thankfully his (now) husband Tim jumped into action and drove a couple hours to see why Alan had stopped responding when Tim kept checking on him.  Tim found Alan unconscious in his bed, helped revive him and then r...

Send us Fan Mail David Eugene Perry is the founder and CEO of the public relations firm David Perry & Associates, Inc. For 10 years, he was the host and creator of 10 Percent TV, the longest running LGBTQ TV show in California history. He has written for such publications as The Advocate, the San Francisco Examiner, Omni, The Desert Sun and The Utne Reader and hosts an online interview show Ah...

Send us Fan Mail STEVEN SKEELS SINGER • SONGWRITER • ACTOR • PRODUCER "TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE" - WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Over his 40 year career, Steven Skeels has established himself as one of music’s most versatile artists, equally as passionate as a performer on the concert stage singing his own material to writing and producing for other artists as well. As a singer, songwriter, and p...

Send us Fan Mail Vinnie Rotalo is an amazing man.  He hasn't had an easy life.  When he was only 14, he tried to save his mother's life via instructions in CPR given by a 911 dispatcher.  After her death, he had to go live with his father whom he didn't really know. He became a trainer and was settling into a successful career with modeling potential when he became paralyzed.  It to...

Send us Fan Mail It's highly unusual for teens to know the direction they want to take in life.  But these two did... here's their story. Preston Shatwell and Brenton Thomas have been together for over 13 years. Brenton added Preston on Myspace when they were 14 and 16 years old and that started their love story. Preston is a born and raised Oklahoman with a passion for local progressive...

Send us Fan Mail Mina Hartong Emcee, Educator, Funny Lady Award winning comedian Mina Hartong (Caroline’s New York, Curve Magazine, Cipriani’s) has been performing and touring for over twenty years. Favorite shows and venues include Don’t Tell Mama’s, Montreal Fringe Festival, and headlining at Iceland Pride where she marched with the lesbian mayor. Mina taught in the public schools for twenty yea...

Send us Fan Mail Growing up, Edras Cordova's father constantly reminded him of a saying.  Edras chose to remember his father's teaching by having it tattooed across the top of his chest.  Roughly translated, the words say:  "Only the one who carries a knapsack knows what's in it".  We never know what another person is going through.  Edras took the message to heart and it...

Send us Fan Mail In David's words: "Welcome! I'm glad you're here. My name is David Wichman, and I am an author, speaker, and certified Conscious Recovery ™ coach with a focus on sexual wellness. I have been creating workshops and writing about sex and sobriety for many years.  It is my deepest passion to witness men at the intersection of sexual freedom in recovery and I am de...

Send us Fan Mail Daniel Bateman Originally from Kansas City MO, Daniel has been performing since he was a toddler. He performed in several NYC Broadway musicals, national touring productions and studied with The Juilliard School in NYC as well as The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles;  a city where he lived and worked professionally over 10 years. Most recently, he starred in th...