Join Funny Boy author Jessica Max Stein and writer/organizer Ted Kerr for a conversation about the life of Muppet performer Richard Hunt, who brought to life beloved characters on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock before dying at 40 of HIV-related causes. Stein and Kerr will discuss the hidden queer history behind this iconic pop culture and the often surprising experience of writing LGBTQ biography. Publishers Weekly described Funny Boy as “nuanced and perceptive”.

To reserve a copy of Funny Boy: The Richard Hunt Biography (Rutgers University Press, 2024, hardcover, $34.95), please write to us at contact@bgsqd.com with “please reserve Funny Boy” in the subject line.

Thank you for supporting the Bureau by purchasing books from us!

This event will take place in person at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, on the second floor (room 210) of The LGBT Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., NYC, 10011.

Registration is not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Suggested donation $10 to benefit the Bureau’s work.

All are welcome to attend, with or without donation.

We will pass a bag for donations at the start of the event, but we can also take credit card donations at the register or on Venmo @bgsqd

Also live-streaming on the Bureau’s YouTube channel:

youtube.com/@bgsqd

Jessica Max Stein has been a New York-based queer writer since the early 90s. Her writing has received awards from Poets and Writers Magazine, the Independent Press Association, and the Biographers International Organization, as well as being published widely. She teaches writing and literature at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY).

Theodore (ted) Kerr is a Brooklyn based writer and organizer. He co wrote We Are Having This Conversation Now: The Times of AIDS Cultural Production, with Alexandra Juhasz (Duke University Press, 2022). He is a founding member of What Would an HIV Doula Do?