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TGF News Briefs

From our fabulous News Hawks!

Have you seen a TG-related news story online or in your local paper? Send it in to TGF and become a News Hawk! Don't assume we know everything that's out there, because you are our eyes and ears. To file a story, send it in to Cindy.

Boy Star In 30s Was Woman

A BOY singer who captivated music halls and received critical acclaim in the Thirties has been revealed as a woman.

Unlike his male contemporaries, Master Joe Petersen did not have to worry about the occupational hazard of his voice breaking. Behind the costume and pretence, the treble voice was that of Mary Lethbridge, a diminutive Scot, thrust into the guise by a domineering uncle. Her achievement in duping thousands of fans as she entered middle age has been posthumously recognised after research by Frank Wappat, a radio presenter.

Mrs Lethbridge's unmarked pauper's grave in Glasgow has now had a headstone added to give her the recognition previously afforded to her alter ego. She had been made to take the stage in schoolboy guise by an uncle, Ted Stebbings, who had been devastated by the premature end of his own career as a boy singer.

Mary, who was 5ft, dressed in short trousers, an Eton collar and black jacket, and with her chest bound tightly with bandages to hide her female figure. Mr Wappat has traced her career after his suspicions were aroused by a comment from a retired BBC continuity announcer in 1965. Master Joe was in fact born Mary O'Rourke and, after her career as a make-believe boy, lived out her final years singing in the intervals at Glasgow bingo halls.

Mr Wappat, from North Shields, North Tyneside, has paid for her headstone bearing the epitaph: "Mary Lethbridge, known to her millions of fans as Master Joe Petersen." He said: "I feel so happy about it. I have the satisfaction of knowing that Mary Lethbridge will not be forgotten and that she finally has the recognition her phenomenal talent deserved.

He said: "Master Joe Petersen was a legendary figure in the Thirties, audiences were enraptured whenever he took to the stage. To find that he was a she was something of a shock but there is some justice in the fact that Mary has now been recognised, albeit belatedly." His investigations took him to a nursing home in London, where Mary's widower, George, now in his 80s, still lives. Their daughter Margo died from an illness in her forties.

Mary herself died in 1963 at the age of 53, unrecognised as the voice that sold countless thousands of records. Mr Wappat, who works for BBC Radio Newcastle, said his research started after he had been speaking to a retired BBC announcer in London in 1965. He said: "We got on to the subject of the great names of the Thirties. I told him I had always loved the voice of Master Joe Petersen and had grown up with his records. I was baffled when this gentleman told me of a rumour that had circulated some years previously that Master Joe had been a woman in disguise".

He said: "I placed a letter in a Scottish newspaper asking for anyone who knew about Master Joe to write to me." A number of letters arrived and two of them mentioned the same rumour - both naming a Mary O'Rourke as the mystery woman and both claiming that she was from Glasgow. Mr Wappat tried to find anyone involved in the Glasgow music hall scene in the Thirties, then asked a genealogist to look for any marriages involving Mary O'Rourke in Glasgow.

There was only one likely candidate and she was born in the town of Helensburgh and married a George Lethbridge of London. Mr Wappat made inquiries in Helensburgh and, eventually, a former band leader, Jimmy Logan, was able to help him fill in many of the gaping holes in the story. Mr Wappat said: "It turns out that Mary would never have taken to the stage as a boy under her own steam. Her uncle, Ted Stebbings, was made to end his own career as a boy singer when his voice broke and Ted's son's career ended in just the same way".

He said: "So when Mary expressed an interest in singing, he hatched a plan to disguise her as a boy. It worked incredibly well. She sang for nine years as Master Joe Petersen and won a legion of fans. I can't imagine how audiences and the critics would have felt if they'd had any idea of what was really going on. There was no way they were going to find out. Rex, the record company that released his material, knew everything and continued to market Master Joe as the 'phenomenal boy singer'. It was an amazing deception".

He said: "It meant that Mary was never known as a singer in her own right, which is the real tragedy. Jimmy Logan told me that she could have eclipsed even Edith Piaff if she had not been cajoled into singing as a boy." He consulted the Catholic Media Office in Glasgow to locate the cemetery where Mary was buried and found her grave did not have a headstone. Lismor, a Glasgow record company, has agreed to release a CD of Master Joe recordings compiled by Mr Wappat and will pay for the headstone.

Mr Wappat has been nominated in the Sony Awards, known as the Oscars of radio, after telling the story of Master Joe on his show.

--via The Telegraph

Call for Submissions for FTM Book

Contributed by Mary M. Boenke, Co-Chair, PFLAG TSON

I am the proud mother of an FTM son, Co-chair of PFLAG's Transgender Network, involved with the recent publication of our booklet "Our Trans Children", and active with trans issues in many ways.

I am planning to edit and publish a book of collected writings by parents, siblings, childrens, partners and other relatives of trans persons. More than one family member, close friends and employers are also invited. It will be similar to "Different Daughters", ed. Louise Rafkin, a book by mothers of lesbian daughters and very successful in that community. My working title is "Our Trans Loved Ones". There is no such book available for trans families.

Submissions should be positive and accepting of your loved one's trans nature, but may describe the journey getting to that place of acceptance. Writings may cover anecdotes about family reactions, the struggle to learn about and understand trans issues, your emotional reactions, dealing with other family members and friends. Families of TG, TS, CD, inter-sexed and all variations of gender benders are included.

Submissions should NOT be by trans persons, themselves, though they may assist and coach others. Submissions should be approximately 1000 - 2000 words. Poems and others lengths also considered. Prior writing experience is not required; we will assist. Send by email (maryboenke@aol.com) or surface mail (Mary Boenke, 180 Bailey Blvd., Hardy, VA 24101) or call to discuss (540-890-3957). Inquiries invited.

Please re-post or copy and distribute any place deemed appropriate. Thanks very much for your help.

Mary M. Boenke Co-Chair, PFLAG TSON --via Gender Advocacy Internet News

Second Int'l TG Film Fest Seeks Submissions

24TH - 27TH SEPTEMBER 1998
AT THE LUX CINEMA, HOXTON SQUARE,
LONDON N1.

Submissions are invited for selection from: Film & Video makers:

Artists:
including,
installation:
photography:
multi - media:
and performance,
for this event.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS 1ST JUNE 1998.

For further details / entry forms please send a S.A.E. to:

ALCHEMY.
36 DURLSTON ROAD.
LONDON.
E5 8RR.
or contact bev@mistral.co.uk



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