"There are biological families, and then there are logical families."
—Anna Madrigal
I first picked up the Tales of the City series by Armistead Maupin in the early 1990s and was immediately drawn into the saga of 28 Barbary Lane and its "logical" family headed by pot-smoking and pot-growing landlady Anna Madrigal. I became so enmeshed in the lives of Mary Anne Singleton, Mona Ramsey, Brian Hawkins, Norman Neal Williams, Michael Tolliver and, of course, Anna herself, that I finished the then six-book series in less than a week. Almost 20 years later, Maupin picked up the tale in Michael Tolliver Lives. The series comes full circle with the final book, The Days of Anna Madrigal, published in January.
Were you a fan of this landmark series? Who was your favorite character? Did you visit San Francisco to seek out 28 Barbary Lane? Did you live in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s when the series started? What are your tales of the city? Let us know in the comments or share your story on LGBTICONS.
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