The Half Life of Sgt. Jen Hunter - Paperback

by Tracy Baim (Author)

In the early 1990s, prior to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the U.S. military discharged gay and lesbian servicemembers under a longstanding ban. During the first Gulf War, many of those soldiers were kept in under a "stop loss" order, only to be discharged upon their return home. Now that DADT has been struck down, this novel is perfectly timed to give a closer look at the lives of people impacted by any policies or laws that ask them to compromise who they are. In The Half Life of Sgt. Jen Hunter, long-time lesbian journalist Tracy Baim takes a fictional look at this era in our nation's history, when gays and lesbians served proudly, but quietly, risking their lives for a country that disrespected and attacked who they were. What would happen if an out lesbian journalist met a closeted military spokeswoman? Would sparks fly? Would the sergeant risk her career for love? Would the journalist compromise her ideals for a chance at happiness? What about the servicemembers on the ground in Iraq? They faced bullets and dangerous chemicals, and some came back wounded and faced the loss of their career. See what happens in this fast-paced tale of war, pride, sacrifice, and love. This story was adapted for the Chicago stage as Half Life, in 2004.

Author Biography

Tracy Baim is publisher and executive editor at Windy City Media Group, which produces Windy City Times, Nightspots, and other gay media in Chicago. She co-founded Windy City Times in 1985 and Outlines newspaper in 1987. She has won numerous gay community and journalism honors, including the Community Media Workshop's Studs Terkel Award in 2005. She started in Chicago gay journalism in 1984 at GayLife newspaper, one month after graduating with a news-editorial degree from Drake University. Baim is the author of Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage (2010, Prairie Avenue Productions). She is also the co-author and editor of Out and Proud in Chicago: An Overview of the City's Gay Community (2008, Agate), the first comprehensive book on Chicago's gay history; and author of Where the World Meets, a book about Gay Games VII in Chicago (2007, Lulu.com-Baim served as co-vice chair of the Gay Games board). Baim was executive producer of the lesbian feature film Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless (2008, Ripe Fruit Films). She was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1994 and was named a Crain's Chicago Business 40 Under 40 leader in 1995. Baim is a native Chicagoan and has been with her partner, 20-year Air Force veteran Jean Albright, since 1994.