Dr. Loren Olson
Dr. Loren A. Olson was born in Nebraska in 1943, and as former Nebraska senator Bob Kerry said, "Do you think anyone in his right mind would choose to be gay in Nebraska?" He struggled to be straight but eventually lost that fight when he was forty years old, when he left his wife and kids to declare somewhat quietly at first that he is gay. He is an Exemplary Psychiatrist for the Distinguished Life Fellow of the National Alliance for Mental Illness. After developing bags under his eyes and skin that resembled bread mold, as well as blowing out his knee having sex, he began to explore the idea that aging might have some advantages denied him in his youth. He then chose to write more about being gay and gray to avoid having to clean house and take out the garbage. Now in his 70s, Dr. Olson believes that only when we have the courage to show up as our true self can we find a sense of belonging and acceptance. "I found that in telling my stories, others could relate to them in personal ways. Although they lived different stories, their connection with the stories was through a shared emotion."
