In this short documentary, filmmaker Jen Proctor tells the story of the Tappan Oak, a tree that predated white settlement in Ann Arbor and the campus that grew up around it, and the human actions that marked its last decades of life.

From Filmmaker Jen Proctor:

This film represents both singular and collective stories. A lone undergraduate student communes with a tree to help him feel connected to a college campus from which he felt alienated. A professor collaborates with students to create a sense of belonging to Michigan’s natural environment. A society of students fosters belonging by performing a ritual around the tree to induct members into their community. In creating belonging for a select few, however, the society excludes and demeans others who similarly seek to belong. An activist collective responds by effecting change over decades to create spaces for belonging for all people on the campus.

All of these stories bear a relationship to the great oak, an unwitting but central figure in their narratives.

“From 1995 to 2020, Ann Arbor’s Aut/Bar was the mecca for the LGBTQ+ community. Its founders, Martin Contreras and Keith Orr, created a cultural and political hub that bridged the AIDS era with assimilation of the queer community and urban gentrification. This film is both tribute and elegy to a moment of significant hope when Ann Arbor lived up to its reputation for harboring a tolerant and liberal-minded population. It is dedicated to the two men who were at its heart and whose proud determination to make it happen was both fierce and tender.” - Peter Sparling

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Their stories make noise where there is silence and that silence has lived for far too long. 

In this episode, we speak with Laughing Womyn Ashonosheni. We discuss queer spirituality, how to mend broken relationships, and the act of naming oneself.

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today.

In this episode, we speak with Thomas McCauley. We discuss his surviving conversion therapy, gay kismet, and the journey to self-love.

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. 

In this episode, we speak with Roger LeLievre. Roger has lived a thousand lives--Ann Arbor News reporter, longtime DJ at The Nectarine Ballroom, Lake Superior freight ship sailor. We get an inside look at the height of queer nightlife in Ann Arbor, the unique challenge of interviewing Yoko Ono, and almost killing Sylvester.

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today.

In this episode, we speak with Curtis Chin. We discuss his childhood growing up in Detroit’s legendary Chung’s Restaurant, “The Gay Agenda”, and what it’s like to meet Vanna White (and the Obamas).

Listen to Chuck as he interviews Ed Surovell and explores his passion for books and his career as the founder of Edward Surovell Realtors. His amazing collection includes rare books about Ann Arbor, Michigan, Native Americans and some even dating back to the 1800s.

“I was destined to buy books – I couldn’t escape the things. I was born to them and married them. They come whispering to me in the middle of the night.” – Ed Surovell.

This is a rough-draft of some footage Stephen Erlewine took back in 1970 at the second pivotal Arbor Blues Festival, where his brother Michael was in charge of food and drink for the blues artists, and also served as interviewer for scores of the performers. This was a life-changing experience and led some years later to Michael founding the All-Music Guide (AMG).

This video originally appeared here.

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Their stories make noise where there is silence and that silence has lived for far too long. 

Welcome to The Gayest Generation, where we hear LGBTQ older adults speak for themselves. Every episode, we sit down with a different member of the LGBTQ community who laid the foundation for the freedoms we have today. Their stories make noise where there is silence and that silence has lived for far too long. 

In this episode, we speak with theater director and educator Michael Walling. We discuss growing up in Portland during the 70's, being a New Yorker during the AIDS crisis, and the staying power of Tom Selleck's moustache.