John R Selig

Writer. Photographer. Podcaster. Outspoken.

Welcome

Welcome to johnselig.com, my digital home, which provides an outlet for my creative side. My professional career was in marketing and advertising. However, my muse has been and continues to be sated through my photography, writing, podcasting and LGBTQ+ activism.

Other than having my camera with me always, many of my other pursuits have taken a backseat for several years and I am thrilled to be ramping them up again. Several health concerns including COVID and extensive dental work curtailed my motivation for a number of years. I haven’t been podcasting or writing for several years and the website has needed updating with new material for far too long. However, my creative side is finally jumping into high gear.

Photography has been with me since my senior year of high school (1970). Okay, how the heck did I get so old so fast??? I often see more through my camera’s lens than through both eyes when my camera is not in my hands. My urge to write has grown since I came out in 1990 when I was shocked and appalled by the challenges facing LGBT people. I have always enjoyed being on radio from my days on WHRW-FM, my college radio station in Binghamton, New York in the early 1970s, spending a semester in London studying British Broadcasting in 1973 and having been a regular on an Internet radio show and a guest on various radio talk shows. The jump into podcasting has been fun and rewarding. I have enjoyed having lively conversations with many inspiring guests. One guest best described the podcast as, “Think ‘Inside The Actor’s Studio’ meets NPR.”

This site is divided into sections representing my different creative facets. I recommend taking a look at my bio to find out more about what makes me tick and then peruse the different sections. The photography section features galleries starting in June 2002 when I got my first digital camera, a point and shoot Sony. I have many prints and slides in books on bookshelves from floor to ceiling covering more than three decades of film photography, which are not represented on this site. Starting in 2009 my photos were taken with a Nikon DSLR. You will notice that the photos displayed in the photo section starting in mid-2011 are larger than the older ones making them easier to view. A huge change for me has been that since the late 2110s I have been taking photos exclusively with my iPhone. No matter where I go or what I am doing it is always with me and the quality of photos I have been taking are as good as the ones I took with my Nikon, often even better. Tech is amazing. When I replace my iPhone every few years it is because of updates to the camera. I often tell folks that “I just got a new camera with all these great new features. Oh, and you can also receive texts and email and make phone calls on it.”

The commentary section includes articles I have written over the years along with a broadcast piece I wrote and recorded for Valentine’s Day, which aired on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered” in 2005, just ten months after Rodolfo and I married in Toronto, Canada. I haven’t Published many commentaries in some time, even before going on hiatus, having instead incorporated them into my John Selig Outspoken podcast and then my blog. Podcasts episodes are available from many sources including Apple Podcasts, and can be downloaded and listened to via the podcast section of this site as well. The podcast blog also contains photographs, links and other useful information about each episode.

I began writing my blog in early 2015. I comment on a large variety of topics, some covering LGBT issues but many other topics as well. You can read blog posts in the blog section of this site and can also subscribe via an RSS feed that will automatically alert you when I upload a new post to the blog. Finally, I have a section of useful links that folks can refer to for information on LGBT, political, media and other useful resources. My intent for the links section is to share resources to help folks to stay informed and to empower people to take action to make our country and world a better and safer place. The links section will soon have a bunch of new links added. During my hiatus I have continued to receive requests to add resources to the website. I have saved them all and will shortly be reviewing them and adding the ones I feel will be useful.

This website and much of its contents would not be possible without the assistance and support from my husband, Rodolfo Arredondo. He is an inspiration that keeps me balanced and adds more to my life than I could ever hope to express in words. Not a day goes by that I don’t realize how fortunate I am to be married to Rodolfo, the love of my life.

This website and my various creative pursuits will be a work in progress. First, I am updating my bio and introduction. I literally have thousands of photos taken over the past 5+ years to review. I will select the best to digitally edit and work on so that I can add them to the site. This will be an ongoing effort that will take lots of time. My intention is to start adding photos very soon and then regularly keep adding more over time. I plan to start writing again for the blog as my muse perks up. With what is likely to be the most important national election of our lifetimes approaching I have no doubt that I will have plenty to say. In fact, it will probably be even harder than usual to shut me up < G R I N >! As far as my John Selig Outspoken podcast is concerned, I already have a bunch of topics to feature and folks in mind to have on as guests. I don’t know how long it will take me to relaunch the podcast as it has been so long since my last episode that I will need to relearn how to produce new episodes. The tech has changed so I have a learning curve in front of me. So, please be patient with me.

Make yourself at home and enjoy and please keep coming back to johnselig.com to check for the latest updates.

Warmest regards,

John R Selig
Dallas, Texas USA
[john at johnselig dot com]