Telling Friendship Stories

‘Walking and talking’ is an image of Ken Plummer that many people fondly recall. With Ken, these walks were often a dialogue of personal, political, sociological, and musical topics, adventures in learning and sharing and activating ideas. Telling stories and narratives is one of the key ideas he develops in several books, ultimately connected to his ideas of intimate citizenship. As for many scholars and students, his writings about narratives contributed to their own personal and research development, as it did for me in contributing to our friendship and to my research on gay men’s friendships. The walks we took were not just intellectual discussions, but qualitative evidence and supportive verification of what much research demonstrates are essential characteristics of building and maintaining close intimate friendships and communities.