A House on the Ocean, A House on the Bay spans the heyday of Picano’s life in the Pines and Manhattan during the 1960s and 1970s. He chronicles his love affairs and the tortuous intricacies of a longtime love triangle; his hilarious misadventures as a bookstore employee—arranging a book party hosted by Jackie Onassis, lunchtime rendezvous in secret tunnels beneath Grand Central Station, and even being framed for embezzlement; and the thrills and agonies involved in writing and publishing his first novels, including Smart as the Devil and Eyes.

Picano also regales readers with stories about the legendary “Class of 1975,” the “Gay 2,000”—hip, political, talented, beautiful young men who helped shape gay culture as it exists today. AIDS eventually spread through the Pines like wildfire, and about 98 percent of the “Gay 2,000” are now dead. But Felice Picano lived through it all, giving voice to those times with humor, candor, and wistfulness.

Available from Rebel Satori Press

Felice Picano (1944–2025) was a central figure in queer letters. A member of the Violet Quill, he founded SeaHorse Press in 1977 and, in 1981, co-founded The Gay Presses of New York, serving as its editor-in-chief. Remarkably prolific, Picano published fiction, memoir, poetry, nonfiction, and drama, with work appearing in countless anthologies and magazines. Widely honored with literary awards, he was also a generous mentor and true friend to innumerable writers.

Despite his Bachelor’s Degree and evident visual skills, no one wanted to hire Felice Picano as an artist or even art director after college. Instead he was roped into a series of moderately entertaining, barely paid, and minimally creative editorial and writing jobs. These led nowhere important and Picano ended up alternately book selling, hanging around on the outskirts of the Warhol Factory, and at minimal pay occupations too embarrassing to recount. Somehow one or other of these led to Rizzoli Bookstore where eventually someone on staff thought him too pretentious for even that high falutin’ store. They found him a literary agent who was beginning her own agency and was desperate for anyone knowing the rudiments of the English language to flog to corporate-publishers who should have known better. That madness led to repeated publication, a prestigious award nomination, book club and foreign language sales and eventually best sellers. Everything since has been –and it wasn’t far to go—downhill.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.