In the wake of noted actor Leonard Nimoy’s death, people may have missed that the Reverend Canon Malcolm Boyd has also died.
An Episcopal priest, he first gained public attention in the nineteen sixties as the “espresso priest” named for his participation in San Francisco’s poetic scene, frequently giving readings at the Hungry I, and later for his book “Are You Running With Me, Jesus?”
He was an activist, particularly focused on the Civil Rights movement. There’s a small intersection with the Unitarian Universalist church in that while he was chaplain at Wayne State, he led a discussion group that inspired UU Viola Liuzzo’s journey to Selma and subsequent murder by the Klan.
Boyd publicly acknowledged his homosexuality in 1977, and from then became a prominent voice in the Gay Rights movement.
He wrote some thirty books.
At the time of his death today at the age of 91 he was writer-in-residence of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
He is survived by his long time spouse, Mark Thompson.
Actually the first sermon I preached in a Unitarian Universalist church some thirty years ago, had a small intersection with him, as well. I called it “Are You Running With Me, Buddha?”
After coming out he had trouble finding employment for several years. But he persisted. And things change…
Today Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles writes, “Let us keep Malcolm’s spouse, Mark Thompson, in our prayers, giving thanks for their marriage, and their 31 years together, as we remember Malcolm’s 60 years of ordained ministry and advocacy for civil rights. Malcolm was a beloved mentor and friend to so many, and Mary Bruno and I are deeply grateful for the love, care and wisdom that he extended so generously to us both.”
To which I add my own UU Buddhist amen.
And a small hallelujah…
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