The Truth-Teller Told a Lie

Abstract

The Truth-Teller Told a Lie is Darrin Reed Abplanalp-Cowan’s first memoir, telling the story of one of America’s first out-LGBTQ+ television anchors before the days of marriage equality or workplace and housing protections for LGBTQ+ citizens. The memoir follows Abplanalp-Cowan’s scrappy fight to get out of his rural-Utah upbringing and tracks his rise in the world of television while still a closeted Mormon and the personal and professional consequences of coming out after divorcing the mother of his son, Wesley. The lies Abplanalp-Cowan told his family and his viewers culminated in tragedy with Wesley’s death and the ensuing national-media coverage. The sections of his memoir appearing in this thesis are the product of a deep exploration into the power of restraint in retelling emotionally charged personal stories of tragedy and loss, with studies into the works of Joan Didion, Tara Westover, and Dustin Lance Black.