Sally Schilling and other acquaintances
The broader urban network of actors, writers, patrons, and marriages of convenience around Jim.
Collectively, companionship, safety, sex, status, and careers within restrictive conditions.
The book
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeSally and the wider New York and Hollywood circle show that Jim’s experience is not unique.
Their lives include artistic careers, coded relationships, gay and bisexual social networks, and marriages of convenience.
They offer many ways of surviving restriction, though few receive independent conclusions.
How the book draws them
- Socially variedThe circle includes actors, writers, patrons, and spouses.
- CodedRecognition often happens without public declaration.
- AdaptiveDifferent people build different arrangements around the closet.
- ContextualTheir presence keeps Jim from appearing like the only gay person in his world.
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