Jon-Henri Damski (March 31, 1937 – November 1, 1997) was an American essayist, weekly columnist, poet and community activist in Chicago's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities from the mid to late 1970s until the late 1990s. At the time of his death, Damski was the longest-running columnist published in the American gay and lesbian press, having written for publication every week from November 8, 1977, until November 12, 1997.
Damski is also considered the first gay columnist in the American Midwest to publish under his real name and photo, starting in January, 1979, when no legal protections existed in the city of Chicago to give one recourse if fired from a job, or forced from housing, due to sexual orientation. Damski's epigrams, columns and poetry have been gathered in several collections and anthologies (see "Damski and Firetrap" section, below).
Damski was considered one of the people most instrumental in helping to pass Chicago's Human Rights Ordinance in 1988, which granted protections in jobs and housing to members of the gay and lesbian communities within the city. In this campaign, Damski worked closely with activists Arthur Johnston (Damski's close friend and benefactor), Rick Garcia, and Laurie Dittman; working under the auspices of the organization Gay and Lesbian Town Meeting, the quartet became widely known as the "Gang of Four." Damski was considered especially influential in securing support for the Human Rights Ordinance from conservative aldermen who had in the past opposed the bill. In 1990, Damski worked to pass Chicago's hate crimes ordinance. In 1991, Damski was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame for his years of writing and his activism. In 1997, Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City Council presented Damski with a Proclamation for his two decades of service to the city of Chicago and its gay, lesbian and transgender communities.
Damski had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 1993. After 7 surgeries, in mid–1997 the melanoma had metastasized to his lungs and liver. Damski refused an experimental treatment, telling friends and readers he wanted to maintain his quality of life, a clear-head and the ability to write during the last months of his life. He wrote weekly until he collapsed in late October, 1997—having unknowingly written his 20th anniversary column and one more for the road, both of which were published posthumously.
Childhood
Damski was known for his double-thick lenses, Cubs baseball cap and T-shirt & tie combinations as he walked the neighborhoods in Chicago, gathering news for his columns. His vision had been marred from the start of his life—as a premature birth in 1930s Seattle, he was also not even expected to live; yet Damski wrote about this in later years as a positive thing: it freed him up from all the pressures put on his older brother by his parents.
Damski's father, Henry Damski, had spent time in an orphanage in Birmingham, Alabama, before later attending the New England Conservatory of Music. In Seattle, he would become the conductor of the city's Symphony Orchestra; under a stage name, he also led jazz dance bands and hosted his own radio show. Henry Damski died at age 59 of a massive heart attack. Ruth, Damski's mother, hailed from Rockford, Illinois. She was known as Ruthie. Her father moved the family of nine brother to the Washington State, where they were raised in the Northwest. The move would later be followed by a divorce, yet everyone stayed close in bringing up the large family, now extended, so that exes continued to participate even with their new spouses. Damski's mother's side of the family included tavern owners, brothers who worked in the lumber mills, and brothers who enlisted in the armed services.
Damski wrote often about having a dyslexia so serious that reading books was often next to impossible: his father read aloud to him all of his schoolwork until he was 9. Despite problems with his eyesight, he nevertheless had been given regular piano lessons and had some promise, though he suddenly gave it all up when he realized he wanted to be a baseball pitcher—his number one dream from 9 until 17.
Damski attended Lakeside Academy for Boys in Seattle—later simply Lakewood Academy—where he was first tutored in the Classics—the Greek and Latin languages and history. Damski's parents would split-up in the 1940s, with his mother moving to Palm Springs, California (the home of a new lover) and his father remaining in Seattle. His parents would date others and get married; Damski later wrote that he had learned from his maternal grandmother that step-families taught one how to let go of the past and how to get along with additions to the family.