Man Made: Searching for Dads, Daddies, Father Figures, and Fatherhood

The author will be in conversation with writer Calvin Eaton

“Steve Majors writes from experience with a clear eye and a steady hand.  I trust him: he is blunt about his mistakes and open about his loves.  This book is a glorious reminder that life has no instruction manual—you figure it out as you go.”
—James Whorton Jr., author of Angela Sloan

Not all little boys want to grow up to be like their dads. The shy ones, the sensitive ones, the ones people mock as strange or call queer—sometimes they want to grow up to be loved by men who stand in for their fathers. They’ll put up with bullying from an older brother, taunts from the gym teacher, long work hours from a boss, and even discipline from a gay daddy, all as a means to discover what kind of man they truly want to be.

In this poignant and provocative memoir, Steve Majors takes us on a journey of his own self-discovery as he grows from a gay boy in search of a father figure to a gay man grappling with what it means to be a father himself. In doing so, Majors creates various snapshots of time in which his—and the world’s—understanding of what it means to be a gay man changes.

Steve Majors is the author of High Yella: A Modern Family Memoir. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, CNN Opinion, NBC Think, and elsewhere.

Calvin Eaton, M.S. (he/him)—widely known as The Gluten Free Chef—is a disabled, neurodivergent writer, educator, and social entrepreneur based in Rochester, NY. He is the founder of The Gluten Free Chef®, a social media brand and community supporting people living with celiac disease, food allergies, and autoimmune disease. With a Master of Science in Health Systems Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology, Calvin brings a systems-level lens to his work, centering access, advocacy, and scalable solutions for individuals living with autoimmune and chronic dietary conditions. In addition to his entrepreneurial work, Calvin is an experienced educator with over 13 years in P–12 and higher education, where he is recognized for designing inclusive, student-centered learning environments and culturally responsive programming.

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