Malachi Truman Harris

Malachi Truman Harris was a "poet, writer, playwright, actor, anarchist, activist, and gentleman of wit and compassion," according to his obituary in the August 9, 2013 issue of the Colorado Springs Gazette. ^[1]

Truman Harris met Donaciano Martinez in 1965. According to Donaciano, Truman was reading an excerpt from a Shakespeare play loudly, gesticulating wildly.

Through a connection of a mutual friend named Connie, the two got to know each other more.

"He had a really broad perspective...and he'd come through the McCarthy era, the 50s, refusing to sign the loyalty oaths. He had a job where he just refused to sign it. And that's what you were asked to do in the 1950s if you had a job, was to sign a statement that you're not a communist. And he refused to sign it. That was the kind of defiance he had. "

Harris was the Bookstore Manager of the Cragmor Campus Bookstore at UCCS from 1967-1972. He was the feature editor for the campus tabloid publication Montage in 1974. Don Collier was also part of the staff. Both of them would later go on to write for Out Front.

He directed Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" for Canterbury West, Ltd., a venue located at Bijou and Cascade Avenue, above the restaurant "Five Hoods." ^[2]

He co-founded the Gay Liberation Front of Colorado Springs and the Lambda Services Bureau.^[3][4] In his work with the Lambda Services Bureau, he and Dorothy Bell sued the IRS and won back the organization's 501(c)3 status

He passed away on July 27, 2013 at age 78. His memorial service was held at Poor Richards. ^[1:1]

^[5]

Published Works

• Poem: Good Gay Slaves published in OUT FRONT
• Poem: To Him I Love published in OUT FRONT
• Poem: City Failure published in Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed
• To be King of Israel: Jonathan and David (play excerpt) published in Colors of Courage - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Life in Colorado Springs.

Questions

• Is this the same Truman Harris that was the UCCS bookstore manager from 1967-1972?
  • I believe so.
• Can we find any of his poetry?
  • Yes! In Out Front. Now linked on page.
• Both Truman Harris and Don Collier worked on the UCCS Montage and Out Front. Were they in community with one another?
  • It seems so, given that they both were involved in the gay liberation front movement in Colorado Springs. Still researching.

References