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LONGLISTED FOR THE POLARI PRIZE 2021‘From the East End to Westminster … A beautifully written, funny memoir’ Jo BrandGrowing up in post-war East London, the son of a docker and an office cleaner, young Michael Cashman’s life changed when he was discovered, aged twelve, and transported to the West End stage. Cashman would make history – first as an actor, one half of the first gay kiss broadcast on a British soap, BBC TV’s EastEnders, and then as a campaigner and politician, founding Stonewall with Ian McKellen, and embarking on a fight for gay rights across the world that would lead him and his partner Paul Cottingham from tea in LA with David Hockney to flying the rainbow flag over the Royal Albert Hall with Elton John. One of Them contains as many multitudes as its author: glorious nostalgia, showbiz gossip and a stirring history of a civil rights movement. And above all things, it is a love story – a tender account of a partnership that changed the world. ‘A powerful account of public life, love and loss ? Passionate and true, illuminating, bright and breezy’ Simon Callow‘This book, unlike any other I’ve read, is a true portrait of a brave actor/politician/Lord ? A memoir to cherish’ Ian McKellen‘The best book I’ve read in years … Heartbreaking’ Steven Berkoff, New Statesman