It Was Too Soon Before... The Unlikely Life, Untimely Death, and Unexpected Rebirth of Gay Pioneer, Dirk Vanden

It Was Too Soon Before... is the autobiography of Richard Fullmer who wrote under the penname Dirk Vanden. He was a serious novelist in the early days of the development of the gay literary genre. His first books were published-augmented with sex scenes inserted by the publisher-as porn pulps. This autobiography tells the story of his life from his upbringing as a devout Mormon to his discovery of sexual realities, to his move to the gay meccas of San Francisco and Los Angeles in the 1960s and discovery of the thriving gay counterculture with all its sexual and psychedelic dimensions, through the death by AIDS of his longtime partner, to retirement and obscurity, to a "rebirth" as his books have been rediscovered by modern gay literary scholars. The book features an introduction by gay spirituality expert Toby Johnson and includes "The Wit & Wisdom of Gabriel Horny," a collection of humor and wisdom in short aphorisms that express the spiritual wisdom Fullmer has garnered through his 78 years.