Article by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, originally published on Out.com (http://www.out.com/detail.asp?page=1&id=22551).

I admit it. When climbing the landscaped stairway in front of Armistead Maupin’s Noe Hill home, which backs up into the magical Sutro Forest in the heart of his beloved San Francisco, the first thing I look for is pot plants.

My stomach has been lurching over the hills on the taxi ride to his house, and a little of Anna Madrigal’s special blend would do wonders. Not spotting any plants, I continue climbing, aware of how much I desire Maupin to resemble, in spirit, the eccentric transsexual landlady-matriarch Anna Madrigal from his groundbreaking Tales of the City series.

We gays do that to our lions as they age. We desex them. We strip them of their power and influence. We mock their vast accomplishments as quaint. In an age when coming out can often be as breezy as joining a junior high gay-straight alliance, we look back on the hushed secret languages of those who came before us and think of them as somehow weaker than we.

So when the man standing at the door isn’t wearing a caftan and drinking Frannie Halcyon’s famous mai tais but is instead a sturdy, handsome, genial snow-haired daddy type, I think, To hell with the weed. Pass the poppers.

Armistead talks about how his younger lover has made him appreciate his own daddy-body more than ever.

Everyone gets older, Armistead notes, so you may as well focus on being the best older gay man you can be.

Christopher Isherwood's honesty about his own sexuality influenced Armistead Maupin's writings and life. Hear how Isherwood became Armistead's principal mentor.

Armistead was a natural storyteller even as a child but, as he explains in the fifth installment of our interview with him, it took him many years to focus on becoming a writer. The path to becoming a writer is rarely straight, particularly for a gay man.

Every celebrity who has ever come out of the closet has said they don't want to make it a big deal. But as Armistead says in part four of our interview, "it is a big deal."

In his latest book, Armistead Maupin brings back his alter-ego Michael Tolliver whose life now bears a striking resemblance to the author's. Hear about how and why he brought back one his, and our, favorite characters.

Author Armistead Maupin talks about growing up gay in the South and coming out in 1970's San Francisco. It's part two of our eight-part interview with the iconic writer.

Author Armistead Maupin talks about meeting his younger hunter-partner on Daddyhunt. This is the first in our seven-part interview with the iconic writer.