Ron Nyswaner, screenwriter of the acclaimed Showtime series Dear travelers, The book, which features LGBTQ+ characters from the homophobic hysteria of the 1950s to the AIDS crisis, says it was partly based on his life.
Nyswaner adapted the series from Thomas Mallon’s novel of the same name, added black characters and made some other changes. But it also reflects his experiences, he said recently The Hollywood Reporter.
In the seventh episode of the series (spoiler alert!), protagonist Hawk Fuller, who married a woman to hide his homosexuality, mourns the death of his son Jackson, who died of a heroin overdose. “The grief that Hawk feels in episode seven has a lot to do with how I reacted with drugs and alcohol to the grief of my friend’s death, which I write about in my memoir,” Nyswaner said.
The memoirs, Blue days, black nights, was reissued for the 20th timeth anniversary. Matt Bomer, who played Hawk in the series,“I have very kindly written a beautiful introduction to the new edition, and I have written an epilogue to the new edition, which deals with Fellow travelers in relation to my experiences from this time of my life,” said Nyswaner the reporter.
“It was a moment when I almost destroyed myself with drugs and alcohol,” he said. “It’s also the story of a tragic love affair. … But I’m glad that I’m not that person anymore, that I’m not a slave to alcohol and drugs anymore. I mean, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have had long to live if I hadn’t quit when I did. But I love the young man it’s about – the book is about my relationship with that young man, and I still miss him.”
Nyswaner also spoke about the importance of having black characters in fellow travelers. “In my research of that era, the ’50s, I found that there was this really vibrant black journalism — that really inspired me to create a black journalist character,” he said. That’s Marcus Gaines, played by Jelani Alladin. “And because of Stormé DeLarverie, this famous drag performer, drag king, who I never knew existed, she inspired me to create Frankie,” played by Noah J. Ricketts, Nyswaner noted.
“I was a little nervous because of course I’m not black and it’s special when a white creator creates black characters,” he said. “But I worked really hard to connect with black collaborators.” He and the rest of the Fellow travelers The team proposes a spin-off about Marcus and Frankie.
Nyswaner, who was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay for the AIDS feature film Philadelphia, is known for his work on fellow travelers. Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, who played Hawk’s lover Tim, are also nominated. Nyswaner was nominated in 2016 for Hometown, but, he said, “This nomination feels different, in the sense that so much of my life is in the history of Fellow travelers.”
