The Way from Me to Us

by Mike Coleman

Two men in love. A world ready for change.THE WAY FROM ME TO US is the story of two pioneers. It’s the true account of a love that began nearly 50 years ago in a Nashville gay bar called The Other Side. It was 1977, when coming out could mean you lost everything. Your job. Your friends. Your family. Mike and Ted were all too aware of the risks at the bar that night. It was literally a step to the other side for Mike, who was nowhere near as accepting of his true self as Ted was of his. “I like being gay,” Ted told him. “I’d like to find somebody who likes being gay with me.” Mike accepted the challenge. With no instruction manual, the two of them staked out a life together at a time when such things “just weren’t done.” Theirs is a story of two men battling the toughest challenges, some external, some that sprang from within. It’s the story of the triumph of an undeniable love that has lasted nearly half a century. This uplifting memoir will move and inspire you. It’s living proof that, no matter how vehemently the world works against it, love wins.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2023

Reviews

[LuAnn Shadik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Story

Beautifully told. I laughed and I cried. This is the story of a love everyone hopes for and very few get.

[Mark Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold memoir that is well-written, easy to read, strongly paced and very immersive. Coleman raises the bar on the autobiography genre with unflinching honesty and lucid self reflection.

[WallofText · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Digital copy provided by Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books]

This was such a swooping memoir covering a long long life and romance. I really enjoyed learning about life in the 20th and early 21st century from work to friendships, dating, trauma, and sticking it out. The cohesion of the book was a little all over the place and I didn't always connect with the writing (especially the later part of the book and it's shift to religious matters), but this was still a fascinating and illuminating read!

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much more than a love story.

This is an autobiography, yes. This is also a love story, yes. But more than that this wonderful story affirms our different but similar journeys, our different but similar joys, triumphs, fears and despairs. Read this beautiful story and discover a bit about yourself and this world while celebrating the love of two engaged and engaging men over almost 50 years.

[Ande Timpeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Way From Me To Us is Mike Coleman's brave and brutally honest trip to self-discovery, self-acceptance, and acceptance of God and community in his life. Mike's route was bumpy and messy, filled with potholes and detours through the ever-changing fabric of sentiments towards LGBT folks. With Ted by his side, Mike eventually sinks into his own skin and into loving, long-term coupledom. And readers gladly sink right in there with them.

[Lynette Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Mike Coleman fell in love with Ted Brothers, who would eventually become his husband, there were no role models for gay relationships, no blueprints for a lasting committed relationship between two men. In fact, America’s views of a successful marriage of any kind, as Mike points out, came from television sitcoms like The Donna Reed Show and The Dyke Show. Against these absurd and many darker cultural stereotypes, his memoir explores vistas of uncharted territory toward the life story and love story so eloquently recounted in The Way from Me to Us.

Sometimes painful, sometimes funny, and always redemptive, this memoir is an authentic chronicle of each significant stage of the writer’s journey, from coming out to coming of age. At
the heart of this brilliantly written book lies the writer’s lifelong quest for acceptance, for a place to belong – in family, sexuality, community, spirituality, and within the writer himself-- that will resonate with numerous readers, especially with those of us who grew up feeling like outsiders.

[John Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fearless. If there’s one word I would use to describe Mike Coleman’s let-it-rip memoir, that’s the word I would use. Coleman’s story of a gay man coming of age spares no one: friends, family who had trouble accepting who he was but perhaps most of all himself. Coleman’s writing is lyrical but accessible and he excels at recreating those pivotal moments that helped him to accept himself and find faith. The heart of the story is a love story. Whether you care about gay rights or not, it’s hard not be touched to see how Mike and Ted found one another, saw some of the worst in one another over the year, but stayed together and grew through it all. As a journalist, I appreciated the way he recounted how exciting it was to work in the exciting era of newspapers, where citizens at least shared a reality. His conversion to faith, a notoriously difficult subject to depict without devolving into cliches, was also moving and authentic. I hope people continue to read about the love Mike and Ted shared long after both have gone. This memoir deserves to endure. -John Blake

[M.C. Ryder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir is really about learning how to accept oneself for who they are even if it's not viewed as traditional. We all struggle with self-doubt and trying to fit in. It doesn't matter who you are or your preference in a partner. We all want family and friends to accept who we fall in love with. We all want an honest partner. Even during the bad times, the ones we give out hearts to should be able to forgive. True love wins, even after moments of weakness. The one thing that caused me to remove a star is how the writing, at times, has huge time jumps back and forth sometimes losing me. As an indie author who struggles to navigate the publishing industry, it was refreshing to read the author's struggles to get a publishing deal when taking time off to complete a manuscript. There were many life events I could relate to, that everyone can relate to because, at some point in our lives, we all experience the same. We are, after all, human.

[eros · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read nonfiction but when I do, I want the ones that really interest me and, boy, did interest me. The Way from Me to Us is a personal story of the author that gives us a glimpse of how life was for queer people back then, it was a rollercoaster of a ride to watch the story of Mr. Mike Coleman's life unfold. I saw myself in the story, as most queer people find the connection in discovering our own sexual/gender identity, and it was heartwarming. I recommend this for people that also want to get their heart strings tugged.

[Randy O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Acceptance of yourself would seem to require only a glance in the mirror for most of us. But for Mike Coleman it involves a little boy who kissed the TV screen when Luke from The Real McCoys came on and not knowing why. This memoir documents a journey of finding full acceptance of one's self and eventually long-term love. The way from me to us is a love story where all of us can find something to celebrate.

[Alana White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully-written memoir, intelligent, loving, and honest. Bravo to the author for putting himself "out there" in such a loving, caring way. This book is a must for those who are wondering, those who are wandering, those who are conflicted, those who need a hand to lead the way. Hopefully, this book will reach people just beginning their journey and those who are well on their way.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who lived in Nashville for almost 5 years, albeit in the late 2010s, this book made me sooo nostalgic and homesick - I got such a kick out of looking up where Mike and Ted’s various apartments and houses were and recognizing various locations mentioned in it. And I really loved learning about Mike’s journey, knowing he was gay from a young age, and how he navigated it/how things changed over the decades. There were hardships but so much joy and happiness as well, it made me super emotional, I definitely cried several times. Thank you to Riverdale Books and Netgalley for the digital copy!