Uncommon heroes

This photo-essay anthology includes over one hundred thirty profiles of noted gay and lesbian Americans. Many of the subjects are famous - extraordinary individuals such as Elton John, Martina Navratilova, Greg Louganis, and Melissa Etheridge - but the book also brings new faces into the limelight; community activists, writers, athletes, business people, and artists who are transforming our perceptions of what it means to be gay or lesbian. "It's a marvelous book," says Ellen Greenblatt, chair of the Stonewall Book Award Committee, on naming the book as co-winner of Best Non-Fiction, "And we're happy to give it this kind of recognition because it should be in every library. It's just the kind of thing that I wish existed when I was a kid."