Otto Penzler's Proscription

I received a message today from one of Otto Penzler's employees, telling me that 

Otto, in the midst of the pile-on last winter, went on Facebook to see what people were saying about him and was surprised to see you jumping in to criticize him and his publishing history....I think he was particularly hurt by your suggestion that he might be homophobic. As such, he has said he’s not interested in working with you going forward….

This all occurred during the dust-up (or "pile-on") over Otto speaking at the Boucheron earlier this year.  Ironically I originally made my initial comment on mystery writer Lee Goldberg's post saying why I wanted to stay out of the whole fuss:

Been reading about the fuss with Otto Penzler at the Bouchercon. Looks like that will leave a lot of bad feelings all round. I guess the Edgars over their history have mostly undervalued the traditional mystery, but Otto has done a lot for it with his publishing ventures. I've gotten a few jobs, good paying ones from MP, which I have to say I appreciate. Honestly, I would do more for them if they asked me. His editor has been very nice to me. My book Murder in the Closet was nominated for an Edgar, the first queer nonfiction study so nominated I think. No Anthony nomination, lol. So, really, I feel I will just stay out of this one.

I thought that actually was pretty measured.  Honestly, the Bouchercon has never done anything for me.  But then I reacted to a quote from Otto that Lee Goldberg included in a blog piece criticizing Otto.  Here's my "homophobia" comment from back in February:

"Men take [writing] more seriously as art.  Men labor over a book to make it literature."  Eek.  I remember this but didn't remember it was that blatant.  It's these sorts of attitudes that help explain how the homophobic First You Dream, Then You Die won an Edgar.  

That's it, that evidently is what led to my proscription by Mysterious Press.  But I stand by what I wrote.  

I did not say Otto was homophobic. I was even told, in the year of our Lord 2024, that Otto has "gay friends." (Yes that old chestnut.) Good for Otto! 

Myself I think he is more criticism-phobic, but I'm in no position to judge him personally on this matter. However, I did suggest that he had been obtuse to the homophobia in the Francis Nevins Cornell Woolrich bio he published.  I think quite obviously plenty of people were over the years.  No one publicly commented about the vile antigay subject matter matter in this book for decades until I did.  I go into detail about the homophobia of the Nevins bio here.  Also myriad other problems with it.  

Otto strikes me as rather sensitive for someone who seems to have something of a history of going out of his way to say insensitive things about others. (There is plenty more that could be quoted.) But his proscription of me illustrates Lee Goldberg's point about his "fellow mystery writers, who are so afraid of speaking out against Otto Penzler...."  (See linked article.)  They appear to have reason to feel that way. Otto must have gone through scores of posts on Lee Goldberg's FB page looking for anything in any way deemable of being criticism of himself.  

The last few years I wrote intros for reprints of Roger Scarlett, Q. Patrick and John Rhode for Mysterious Press.  Otto himself praised my Scarlett intro to me (see below).  After that I corresponded only with his employee, but his employee, someone I always enjoyed working with, praised my work too.  

But now I have been proscribed because of an honest criticism I made of a needlessly offensive and to be frank rather dumb comment Otto made.  You should have read what other people were saying.  At least I acknowledged the good things Otto had done for the genre.  If I criticized his publishing history it was for the one homophobic book.  I'll post more on that book later.  

I have done a huge amount of work on queer mystery writer Rufus King and know even more that I haven't written about concerning him.  No one, but no one, knows this author like I do.  But I wasn't asked to write the intro to the Murder by the Clock reprint, it now appears to me, because I offended the Great Man.  And it illustrates precisely the problem that Lee was writing about.  If I hadn't posted an honest thought on Otto's silly statement and the homophobia in the Woolrich bio I might have gotten to write about Rufus King.  

I said what I honestly thought about a current issue in the mystery world; and if I'm to be punished by the power-that-be for that, that's how it goes I guess.  I am but a poor scholar, not a rich suck-up. 

If, like the Elon Musk of the mystery world, Otto out of wounded vanity thinks it demonstrates his commitment to queer history to kick to the curb the queer guy who has devoted much of his life to these projects so be it.  

It's a challenging struggle doing my work the last year with all its adverse circumstances, but I will keep at it as best I can.  Once Otto wrote me of my work: "You have done a masterful research job on an author (s) that have always seemed somewhat remote and unknown.  Thank you for taking so much time and care with this amazing introduction."  

That was nice.  Moods change though.  

After Otto sent these words I just worked with his employee, but, still, it was nice to be appreciated for a time.  I guess he felt I owed him my silence. Whatever the case with that, I don't now.