Bio
“An original writer and impressive new voice.”
-The Washington Post
Born gay in 1965 smackdab in the middle of the Ozarks, Wade Rouse somehow survived, thanks to the unconditional love of his unconventional family, to become the critically-acclaimed author of the memoir, America’s Boy, (Dutton) which was named by Border’s editors as one of the “Best Literary Memoirs of 2006” (along with Gore Vidal and Gay Talese, thank you very much) as well as “A Best Book of 2006” by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His second memoir, “Confessions of A Prep School Mommy Handler” published in hardcover September 4, 2007, from Random House/Crown Publishing.
Wade is a contributing writer to a forthcoming humorous essay collection on working in retail, tentatively titled The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles. The collection, to be published by Counterpoint /Soft Skull Press in Fall 2008, features an assortment of terrific writers. His essay centers on his work experience at Sears – the Husky’s Hell of his youth. He is a regular essayist for Lake Magazine (www.lakemagazine.com), and his articles have appeared in numerous national magazines and newspapers.
Wade earned his B.A. in communications from Drury University and his master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. He has worked as a journalist and writer, and his articles have appeared in, among others, The Chicago Reader, St. Louis Riverfront Times, Lake Magazine, Blue Magazine, and Grand Rapids Magazine. He spent the majority of his career working in public relations for some of the nation’s most prestigious private schools, colleges and universities.
Wade now lives in Michigan with his partner, Gary, and their lovable mutt, Marge, on over three acres of woods filled with pines and sugar maples. This return to his rural roots has been alternately beautiful and nightmarish, ranging from Hamptson-esque days on the beach to snowbound knife-wielding insanity ala “The Shining.” In between blizzards and beach weather, he is working on his third memoir, which is currently titled, “Racoons, Rattlers and Resorters: A City Man’s Search for Serenity,” a book he terms as “Sex and the City Goes Country” and equal parts “Walden” and “Funny Farm.” It is an ode to Thoreau and his grandmother.
