Richard Grayson (writer)

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Richard Grayson (writer) : biography

1951 –

While the literary reference volume Contemporary Literary Criticism has called Grayson "a marginal figure in contemporary American fiction," it also noted that "he and his fictional persona seem quite aware of this fact" and that "[t]aken as a body of work, Grayson’s short fiction ultimately appears to be one ongoing, career-long writing project, focused always on the effects of contemporary culture on the self."

In 2010, Grayson ran as the Green Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s 6th Congressional District and finished fourth.http://www.azsos.gov/election/2010/General/Canvass2010GE.pdf In February 2012, Grayson got 39 votes as a candidate in the Arizona Green Party presidential preference primary, finishing in a tie for third place,http://www.azsos.gov/election/2012/PPE/canvass2012ppe.pdf and in November 2012, he was the Americans Elect Party candidate in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District, getting just under 1% of the vote.http://www.azsos.gov/election/2012/General/Canvass2012GE.pdf

Return to academia

In 1991, Grayson left his homes in Manhattan and Fort Lauderdale for Gainesville, Florida, where he attended law school at the University of Florida. After graduating with high honors, Grayson joined the research faculty of the law school as a staff attorney in social policy at the Center for Governmental Responsibility. Grayson, who had also worked as a computer educator in the Miami-Dade public schools in the 1970s, concentrated his legal research on educational technology and the new field of cyberlaw, but his work in the think tank also dealt with other issues, including health care, drug legalization, and electoral reform.

Around this time, Grayson began contributing op-ed articles to Florida newspapers, expressing his opinions on issues before the state legislature.http://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com/2008/12/richard-grayson-op-ed-column-in-tampa.htmlhttp://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com/2009/01/richard-grayson-op-ed-column-in-orlando_10.htmlhttp://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com/2009/01/richard-grayson-op-ed-column-in.htmlhttp://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com/2009/01/richard-grayson-op-ed-column-in-ocala.html In 1994, he ran as a write-in candidate for the United States Congress in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area against Republican Michael Bilirakis, who otherwise would have been unopposed.http://articles.latimes.com/1995-05-25/news/mn-5891_1_house-banking-committee Although lacing his "campaign" with humorous sound bites, Grayson also stressed his support of abortion rights, universal health care, and a higher minimum wage.http://who-will-kiss-the-pig.blogspot.com/2008/12/tampa-tribune-reports-on-richard.html

Gay rights activism

Grayson also worked in the unsuccessful 1994 campaign to defeat an anti-gay rights referendum in Alachua County, Florida, where Gainesville is located. Grayson was a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Council of North Central Florida and its political action committee, which in subsequent years managed to help elect enough pro-gay candidates to the Gainesville city commission to pass local gay rights legislation.

Grayson’s experience as a lawyer and gay activist informed some of the stories in his 1996 collection, I Survived Caracas Traffic, whose title story Kirkus Reviews called "a resonant meditation on the themes of relationships, AIDS, and mortality."https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-grayson-10/i-survived-caracas-traffic-stories-from-the-me-/ Another story in the same volume is "Twelve Step Barbie,"http://www.amazon.com/Mondo-Barbie-Lucinda-Ebersole/dp/0312088485 which, along with "With Hitler in New York"https://www.google.com/search?q=%22richard+grayson%22+%22with+hitler+in+new+York%22&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1#q=%22richard+grayson%22+%22with+hitler+in+new+York%22+holocaust&hl=en&tbo=d&tbm=bks&psj=1&ei=IO3EUPOoO-my2QXuoID4BQ&start=0&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=ee43c2b147f54ab6&bpcl=39650382&biw=1025&bih=468 is probably the author’s best-known work and the subject of academic criticism. The New York Times Book Review called the book "far too bright and keenly made to flick casually away."http://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/17/books/books-in-brief-fiction-poetry-009083.html