Mark Thompson is a former contributing writer and senior editor of The Advocate (1975-1994) and author of five influential books chronicling gay history and culture. He is best known, however, for a trilogy of volumes dealing with gay spirituality: Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning (cited as one of the "100 Lesbian and Gay Books that Changed Our Lives"), Gay Soul: Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit and Nature, and the Lambda Literary Award- nominated Gay Body: A Journey Through Shadow to Self. He lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a psychotherapist.