Robert Levithan made a mark in the Arts and Entertainment world.
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Robert Levithan, gay activist, therapist and author, dies peacefully at home on May 13, 2016, of pancreatic cancer at the age of 65.
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Levithan, the author of The New 60: Outliving Yourself and Reinventing a Future (2012), was a long-term AIDS survivor (but not the “designated one to die,”) a therapist, designer, writer, and muse. He was a frequent subject for the landmark photographers Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, and Clovis Franca. In his early years, he was also a performance artist who appeared on stage in the title role of Jack the Ripper, directed by Roman Polanski at the Spoleto Festival in Italy and in the Robert Wilson productions of Curious George at Lincoln Center and The Dollar Value of A Man, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Twyla Tharp hand-picked Levithan to represent the hippy culture in Hair, the Milos Forman film musical.
Born on April 11th, 1951 in Manhattan to Louis and Alice Levithan, Robert was raised in Englewood, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in history, magna cum laude. In the early 1980s, Levithan became an AIDS activist following a diagnosis of HIV. He was among the pioneers testing the efficacy of the first antiretroviral medications and he co-founded The Healing Circle, a support group for people facing terminal diagnoses. He received a Masters Degree in Transformational Counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe. As a psychotherapist, he developed a private practice and facilitated healing sessions for those facing life-threatening illnesses, including The AIDS Mastery Founded by Sally Fisher and groups at Friends In Deed the organization started by Mike Nichols and Cynthia O’Neal. He was co-chairman with Bravo’s Andy Cohen of F.I.D’s board for seven years. As a long-term survivor of HIV, he spoke on the topic on such programs as Charlie Rose and NPR”s Fresh Air and he acted as a consultant for the 1994 Oscar-winning short, Trevor that started the Trevor Project, a hotline for suicidal LGBT teens.
As a theatrical producer, Levithan nurtured the first productions of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, and James Lecesne’s two plays, One-Man Band, and Word of Mouth.
In his recent years, he was a media panelist and a contributor to The Huffington Post and the columnist “Design Shrink,” for Oprah Winfrey’s interiors magazine. Levithan hosted salons entitled‘ The Sexual Ethicist,” designed to liberate attendees from shame and guilt. His writings were published in Out Magazine, Advocate Magazine, and The Good Men Project. His blogs were collected into his well-received book, The New 60: Outliving Yourself and Reinventing a Future.
Levithan, known to his close circle as Bobby redefined the concept of aging for his generation. At age 64, he had just completed his certification as an AntiGravity® Yoga instructor and finished a children’s book called Sophie’s Story and could be seen gliding around the streets of NYC on his Segway.
New York Times best-selling author and nephew David Levithan, Boy Meets Boy & Two Boys Kissing said, “My uncle was a remarkable presence in my life, both as a person and as a writer, and his story is one that effortlessly crossed generations to influence me and my own gay generation.” In the foreword to Robert’s book, Tracy Jackson describes Levithan as “a man who writes with the wisdom of a sage, the enthusiasm of a kid, the depth of someone who has seen the world from all sides, and the humor of someone who always knows where the joke is hiding.”
He is survived by his two brothers, Allen and Jack, their wives, Beth, and Roberta, his partner Christopher Harrison, his loving nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and nephews, dear cousins, aunts and an amazing circle of well-cultivated friends, lovers, and followers.
To his family, friends and the people he served, Robert Levithan’s greatest gift was his contagious joie de vivre. As an exemplary man, he profoundly influenced others lives, demonstrating his capacity to be authentic while facing monumental challenges courageously and with grace. Mr. Levithan’s undeterrable positivity is legendary amongst all who knew him.
A memorial service will be held on May 22 at 2 p.m. at Riverside Chapel, 180 West 76th Street, New York, NY 10023. Further details on his FB page. In lieu of flowers please donate to: The Levithan Fund at the Trevor Project and/or Levithan Fund at S.A.G.E.
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QUESTIONS CONTACT:
Allen Levithan 973.715.0555, Christopher Harrison 917.771.7173,
You can read his posts on The Good Men Project here –
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Photos:Karen Fuchs
Condolences to his loved-ones.
I’m feeling that the world my have gotten just a bit colder…