Hal Riegger, letters (1954-1961)

Hal Riegger, letters from the potter mentioning bringing his pots to Los Angeles that might be appreciated by the gay crowd; hoping for greater cooperation with the Mattachine Society; expressing his opinions on psychiatry; writing about individual therapy and his interest in Albert Ellis; stating his satisfaction with his gay marriage to a bisexual man who was fighting in Korea; mentioning the fulfillment of man as a pluri-sexual animal and the commonalities between heterosexuals and homosexuals; discussing happiness, maturity, and complacency; recommending Frank Townsend's Earth; returning to teaching and spending more time in self-discovery than pottery; discussing philosophy and Gerald Heard as a balance for Blanche Baker; noticing a greater lack of unity in Florida than California, and greater escapism in bars than in San Francisco; finding a family in ONE, but wanting more direct communication with other letter writers; mentioning creating a collection of tapes in gay bars and the patrons' fear of exposure; recounting his arrest in a police raid at Shirley's bar, and a fire at the Driftwood in Tampa (1954-1961)