Failure to Appear: Resistance, Identity and Loss is a memoir about a gay woman of conscience who became a fugitive, on the run for over nineteen years using several fake names. This book is a gripping story about finding your real self and your sexual truth. It delves into family rejection for being a lesbian, the price of ideals, lost love, the agony of an underground existence, and personal renewal. The final, suspenseful chapters describe the author's voluntary surrender and re-sentencing.
It takes place in the turbulent late sixties through the late eighties, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the Nixon and Reagan years, the women's and gay liberation movements, and the AIDS crisis. This story is very relevant to our time, as injustice and bigotry remain fundamental societal ills. As one reader described it, "I couldn't put it down. It has it all: coming of age, coming out, sex scenes, close calls, and gripping life choices. I sunk deeper under my comforter and deeper into an amazing true story."