In Memoriam: Mickey Weems (1957-2023)
Folklorist Mickey Weems died with medical assistance on March 20, 2023. Friends and colleagues are invited to share memories, reflections, and photographs with Mickey on his Facebook page.
Mickey’s Jewish friends and colleagues, Elinor Levy (New York Folklore), Jo Radner (Independent), and Riki Saltzman (University of Oregon) shared memories and recited the life-affirming words of the Kaddish prayer online on March 20.
AFS Executive Director, Jessica Turner, AFS President, Marilyn White, AFS Executive Board member, Mintzi Martinez-Rivera, former convener of the AFS LGBTQ and Allies Section Cory Thorne, and AFS Special Projects Consultant, Cassie Rosita Patterson, hosted a live Zoom interview with Mickey on Tuesday, March 14 to discuss Mickey’s contributions to the field. Watch the interview.
Mickey was also a guest on Folkwise Live on Tuesday, March 7. Watch the recording on Twitch and listen to the playlist that Folkwise created with Mickey during the interview, Mickey Weems’ Last Party on Earth.
“Folklore should be a bridge not a gate.”
Mickey Weems
Mickey Weems is a graduate of the Ohio State University (2007), where he and his husband, Kevin Mason, founded and organized Qualia: Festival of Gay Folklife from 2002 to 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.
Mickey’s published works are available to download for free on Academica.edu, including his book, The Fierce Tribe: Masculine Identity and Performance in the Circuit (2008, Utah State University Press).
Read more about Mickey, his life work, and end-of-life projects:
- Superheroes GoFundMe, an end-of-life project
- Mickey is Dying podcast
- “The Dancer: Mickey Weems” in Honolulu Magazine
- Qualia Encyclopedia of Gay People on Internet Archive
- Stigmata, Mickey’s comic book
This news post was originally created on March 6, 2023 as a pre-memoriam so that friends and colleagues could share memories and gather with Mickey. It was updated to be an In Memoriam page at the news of Mickey’s death on March 20, 2023.
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