REVIEWED BY RAYMOND HELKIO
Three-Way Renegade by Keith Garebian is a candid and untethered portrait of $amuel $teward, an early queer renegade whose legacy has largely faded from mainstream memory despite his significant contribution to our understanding of sexual history. A man of many identities—writer, tattoo artist, and chronicler of an astonishing 4,500 sexual encounters which later on helped to pioneer research on sexuality from the experiences of gay men.
This body of work uncovers $teward’s complex world, bringing to light the layered ideologies of a life lived on the fringes. Within the context of queer history Three-Way Renegade serves as an important commentary on his life offering insight into the risks faced by queers of that period in history.
$teward’s life was, in large part, a series of contradictions. Mingling with literary geniuses such as Gertrude Stein, Thornton Wilder, and Alfred Kinsey, while also having secret, sexual encounters that included Hollywood stars Rudolph Valentino and Rock Hudson and (gulp!) his entire high-school basketball team. Steward would meticulously document these encounters using covert audio recordings which further demonstrates his dedication to his craft.
Beyond $teward’s sexual exploits, Three-Way Renegade delves into the existential challenges of self-identity. Safe under the umbrella of assumed pseudonyms, $teward used names as a way to explore the nuances of queer masculinity through his various art outlets. Anxiety, ecstasy, cruelty, beauty, and narcissism are all aspects of Steward, creating what poet Allan Briesmaster describes as a “hyper-erotic odyssey.” $teward’s journey is not a glorification or vilification sex but instead an illumination of the risks that permeated queer culture of that time. After all, having sex, or even queer relations was against the law, so being queer carried with it an inherent danger to everything we do.
Considering $teward was raised Methodist, it’s understandable that the immense pressure to present as heterosexual underscored his need to keep his sexuality discreet–at least initially. $teward’s sexual encounters were more than physical acts, they were spiritual explorations that directly challenge the conventional morality of the time. Organized religion is a system based in part on control and so reconciling one’s own sexuality within this context just becomes all that much harder to navigate.
More than just a recounting of Steward’s life, Three-Way Renegade delves into the complexities of identity and sexuality, revealing $teward’s fascinating life. A profound commentary on the human condition, and an unflinchingly portrayal of $amuel $teward. A defiant work which should serve as a foundational reference for his place in queer history.
As a complement to the text, Garebian includes some of his own drawings which are loose, fluid and evocative. Garebian’s work is a biography with a cultural commentary on the intersection of art, sexuality, and identity. An important intersection to consider when looking back at how our histories get captured and remembered in the common domain.