I've never cared much for American Marvel-Comics-style superheroes for the simple reason that the world has been chockfull of real-life heroes since recorded history, those who fought the Battles of Thermopylae and Marathon, explorers such as Stanley and Burton, artists like Caravaggio and Cellini, Renaissance humanists rediscovered thanks to Cosimo de’ Medici and his grandson Lorenzo Il Magnifico, and many other heroes who preferred male-male friendships. I've consulted scores of poets, historians, logographers, chroniclers, playwrights, orators and philosophers; scores of other books as background concerning history in general, wars, politics, economics, government, clothing and other nonsexual material; and, naturally, books dedicated to the explanation of the workings of homoeroticism. Nature chose my own personal camp for me, sexually, as it did for the others in my books, and I'm going to do my best to prove that I've received a truly proud heritage--a heritage to be truly proud of--thanks to the fabulous men who preferred other men.
My books are often criticized because I very briefly hammer at the democracies that still have monarchs in place, people whose position and fortune are due to an accident of birth and not merit, and those not connected to them are little more than commoners. I maintain too that the time has come for men to stand on their own two feet, without the crutch of religion. It’s wonderful to find consolation during time of sickness and the death of loved ones, but it’s more important still to be honest with oneself. I believe boys should be free to determine their own sexual preferences, and this in an ambiance that is male and female: A lad who sees, from infancy, his two fathers kissing has the chance of a snowball in Hell of becoming heterosexual. And lastly, no boy should be disfigured through circumcision. Let him decide for himself when old enough to do so. I always put the warning ‘’homosexual’’ in my titles so as to escape--not always successfully--the anger of women who may buy them. My life’s work is to make boys aware of the homosexual heroes of the past, and how lucky we are to appreciate the beauty and accomplishments of those of our sex.
The story of my early years can be found in by book Michael Hone: His World, His Loves.
mbhone@gmail.com
