When: October 14, 2009, 7:30 PM
Where: Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 991 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta, GA
Media Contact: media@jamesrandallchumbley.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATLANTA, October 2, 2009 - Local artist and author James Randall Chumbley will read from his new book, Alabama Snow, at a benefit for YouthPride’s suicide prevention program known as Evolve! The event will take place at Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 PM.
This special fundraising event is also being staged to raise community awareness of the risks of suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth and young adults in metro Atlanta. Chumbley will be donating to Evolve! his portion of the proceeds from all copies of Alabama Snow sold at Outwrite during the month of October.
Chumbley is also donating one of his original mixed-media contemporary landscape paintings, valued at $3000.00, which will be raffled off to benefit Evolve! Raffle tickets are available from October 7 -14 for $5.00 each at Outwrite, where the art will be on display. The winning ticket will be drawn during the October 14 event.
Having survived his own attempted suicide earlier this year, Chumbley is finding new strength after a long struggle with depression by speaking out publicly. He plans to use his art and writing, and the release of his new book, as instruments of hope and support to individuals and organizations battling issues of suicide within the LGBTQ community. As he embarks on his book tour for Alabama Snow, Chumbley will host similar book events across the country, each benefiting local market LGBTQ suicide prevention programs.
“YouthPride’s Evolve! program is very important to me as a survivor of attempted suicide myself,” confides Chumbley. “The crisis of suicide is an important yet often a misunderstood issue, one that many people in Atlanta struggle with daily, including members of the LGBTQ community. I was brought back to life after lying dead in the emergency room of Grady Memorial Hospital, having being worked on for five hours. Now, I want to do what I can to make a difference so others can get the help they need and avoid the choice I made.”
At Outwrite, Chumbley will be reading excerpts from Alabama Snow, which deals with depression and suicide. He will also be frankly discussing his recent suicide attempts. YouthPride representatives will be at the event to provide information about services for LGBTQ youth and discuss the impact of suicide on the gay community. Individuals attending the event will also be able to make donations directly to YouthPride.
According to a 2006 study by Eisenberg and Resnick, lesbian, gay and bisexual students (grades 9 – 12) were significantly more likely to have attempted suicide than their heterosexual peers. The research noted that 52.4% of lesbian and bisexual females and 29% of gay and bisexual males had attempted suicide.
Such statistics highlight the growing concern of suicide among LGBTQ teenagers and young adults, which led to the creation of YouthPride’s Evolve! program. The program offers therapeutic services to youth in crisis, including free non-judgmental and confidential counseling for YouthPride members, provided on site by licensed practitioners and counseling interns.
“I am pleased that YouthPride is part of this event because it allows us to inform more people about our counseling services and other innovative programming” said Terence McPhaul, YouthPride’s executive director. “Suffering and tragedy can be avoided if there is proper awareness, coupled with quality culturally competent mental health services like those provided through Evolve!”
About James Randall Chumbley
James Randall Chumbley, known to his friends as Randy, is a nationally respected artist, author, and activist who divides his time between Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Alabama Snow, is the tender yet heartbreaking story of a woman, Chumbley’s mother, who lost her dreams. The author recounts his years of struggle to save his mother from mental illness and alcoholism. He also tells of his emotional break-up with the love of his life, a man he met shortly after his mother’s death, which pushed him to the brink of suicide. Find out how a mother’s message of hope from beyond the grave saved her beloved son from ending his life as his father had done. Anyone whose life has been touched by alcoholism and mental illness will find something worthwhile in this narrative as Chumbley opens his heart and soul, holding nothing back from the reader. Read an excerpt from the book on the author’s Web site http://jamesrandallchumbley.com/alabamasnow.aspx.
Chumbley’s first book, a memoir entitled In the Arms of Adam: a diary of men, met with immediate critical and professional success. This deeply passionate, sensitive, and raw personal story that chronicles his tumultuous and painful childhood filled with his father’s abuse, alcoholism, eventual suicide, and his mother’s mental illness through the self-discovery he experienced as a young man. His second book, Before the Last Dance, is a novel but perhaps more truth than fiction. It explores the issues of growing up gay, finding oneself, and coming to terms with the aging process – all in a community that covets youth, vitality, and appearance. You can learn more about Chumbley’s writings at www.jamesrandallchumbley.com.
Chumbley is also known for his visual art which encompasses contemporary landscapes, abstracts and nudes using the media of oil, wax and varnish. His work is on display in numerous galleries and is included in many high-profile private and corporate collections across the country. Learn more: www.jrchumbleyart.com.
About YouthPride
YouthPride (www.youthpride.org) protects, unites, and dignifies the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth and young adults. YouthPride provides a safe, comfortable space where youth can conduct support and discussion groups, plan youth-led workshops, utilize library and computer resources, attend social gatherings, or explore educational and career opportunities. It is metro Atlanta's only Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning (LGBTQQ) organization dedicated solely to the needs and interests of youth. For more information about the Evolve! program for suicide prevention and counseling, contact Tana Hall, LPC at 404.521.9711 ext. 207 (Tana@youthpride.org).
About Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse
Outwrite (www.outwritebooks.com) is an independent bookstore and coffeehouse located at the corner of Tenth Street and Piedmont Avenue in midtown Atlanta. Opened in 1993 by owner Philip Rafshoon to serve Atlanta’s gay & lesbian community, Outwrite has grown quickly to become the largest GLBT landmark in the South, known worldwide for signature events featuring emerging writers and literary superstars. Outwrite has been named “Atlanta’s best bookstore” by Southern Voice.