without any fanfare, it looks like sportwriter mike penner is back at the l.a. times.
Eighteen month after writing a column about becoming Christine Daniels, veteran sportswriter Mike Penner has quietly returned to work at the Los Angeles Times, according to multiple sources close to the LAT’s Sports staff. Penner’s column in April 2007 about his sexual transformation became one of the most-viewed Times’ stories of the year and was followed by a story in the LAT from media writer James Rainey and tons of other media attention. Daniels for a time chronicled her transformation in a blog at LATimes.com; the blog entries have been removed and the Times has so far posted nothing about Penner’s return.
transitioning is hard enough. i can’t imagine de-transitioning, especially in the public eye.
and sorry about that picture – it was the only one i could find.
I’ve been reading about this and I’ve stayed away from writing about it on my blog. I have no idea why the decision to end transition but I do feel that the readers of the paper and his blog deserve some sort of explanation. They weren’t shy about promoting the Mike to Christine angle after all. That being said, I can certainly sympathize. As you most certainly know, the thought of calling it quits never really escapes my mind. For different reasons, transition doesn’t always work out for some of us. Mine has been a struggle and I’ve never been able to totally make the leap, always leaving that proverbial door ajar. The thought of crossing back sometimes makes me ill while at other times it looks so inviting. Perhaps, just like me, Christine just figured out that life was just easier as Mike.
Comment by Kelly — October 24, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
As I read what I wrote, I thought I would try to clarify the last bit. In my case, life as Greg, though never really great, was still much easier than the life I have now. I keep hoping that it will get easier but it never does. I’m locked in as Kelly till May but right about now, I’d put the odds of going back to being Greg at 50/50.
Comment by Kelly — October 24, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
i’ve found that life isn’t easy any way you slice it. pun intended
for me, transition was exchanging one set of problems with another. it all comes down to which set of problems works better for the individual – which set improves the overall quality of life.
Comment by nexy — October 24, 2008 @ 9:27 pm