In memoriam

John Gagnon
(1931-2016)

John Gagnon was one of the most original and challenging personalities in our field. I first met him in the late 70s or early 80s and also visited him in his loft in lower Manhattan for a long afternoon of an inspiring discussion. Later, we had many more talks at the IASR meetings.

Most important for me was his eager participation in the first congress on “Bisexualities” 1990, which I had organized at the Berlin Reichstag, immediately following the opening of the Berlin wall.

The proceedings of this congress were published in both English and German, with Gagnon’s paper on the sociological perspective of bisexuality making an indispensable contribution: http://www.esextherapy.com/Hirschfeld.html

My own introductory paper in this volume paid tribute to the research of Gagnon and Simon: http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/SEXOR4.HTM#N5

Indeed, to this day I feel so indebted to their work that I summarized it in one of my online courses (now available in 7 languages): http://www.sexarchive.info/ECE6/html/a_script_.html

In short, John Gagnon was one of those colleagues who had the greatest influence on my own thinking.

I will always remember him gratefully and fondly.

Erwin J. Haeberle