Call me Quote by Kevin Sessums
![“When I graduated [from Yale], I went back to Larry [Kramer]. But when I go to Yale reunions, there are still people who call me David.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a47/kevin-sessums-9486_call-me_when-i-graduated-from-yale-i-went-back-t_1108157.jpg)
“When I graduated [from Yale], I went back to Larry [Kramer]. But when I go to Yale reunions, there are still people who call me David.”
About This Quote
Source Memoir: “The Other Side of Paradise”, 1992
Even after leaving Yale, some still see him as a student, showing how past identities linger.
In simple terms: People still call him “David” after graduation.
Key Takeaway
Accept that past labels may persist.
Themes
identity
memory
social perception
Mood
reflective
nostalgic
Type
personal
philosophical
When to use this quote
- reunion events
- networking
- personal branding
Key Concepts
self‑concept
legacy
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you reshape others’ views?
- What parts of your past define you?
A Different Perspective
Changing perception can be difficult.
![“We didn't know each other [with Larry Kramer at Yale], but we had a lot of mutual friends.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/efb/kevin-sessums-9486_friends_we-didn-t-know-each-other-with-larry-kra_608949.jpg)
![“[Larry Kramer] thinks Charles de Gaulle was gay. He thinks Max Schmeling was gay.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/045/kevin-sessums-9486_gay_larry-kramer-thinks-charles-de-gaulle-wa_160828.jpg)
![“Those people are seen, I assume, by Larry [Kramer] as writing partly about gay issues and problems, whether it's on the surface or not, and I am not. But another thing is when we met, there still wasn't exactly a gay/straight divide in the minds of a lot of straight people. There weren't any gay…” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c72/kevin-sessums-9486_assuming_those-people-are-seen-i-assume-by-larry_2072553.jpg)
![“I talked to [Larry] Kramer a little bit about it while I was writing 'Remembering Denny' . Denny was one of those people who took a long time to come out.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2b7/kevin-sessums-9486_bits_i-talked-to-larry-kramer-a-little-bit-ab_1890296.jpg)
![“I could appear in this million-word book [Larry Kramer] are working on. Nobody would even notice me.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/866/kevin-sessums-9486_book_i-could-appear-in-this-million-word-book_1774662.jpg)
![“[Larry Kramer] even wrote this angry letter to the president of Yale, and in it he said what he said to us, that he was so disappointed in his straight friends because of AIDS and everything. He wrote the letter around March. And in it he wrote, "I usually go to the Trillins for Christmas, but I…” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d09/kevin-sessums-9486_aids_larry-kramer-even-wrote-this-angry-lette_1749225.jpg)
![“Tony Kushner has said that Larry [Kramer] thinks everyone always has to agree with him.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f18/kevin-sessums-9486_agree_tony-kushner-has-said-that-larry-kramer_1596584.jpg)
![“There was a Yale even before Larry [Kramer] and I got there, and there were three designations of students: "white shoe," "brown shoe," and "black shoe." "White shoe" people were kind of the ur-preppies from high-class backgrounds. "Brown shoe" people were kind of the high school student-council…” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cb5/kevin-sessums-9486_backgrounds_there-was-a-yale-even-before-larry-krame_1415214.jpg)
![“Everyone disappoints [Larry Kramer]. So it's not a problem for him either way.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0f6/kevin-sessums-9486_disappoint_everyone-disappoints-larry-kramer-so-it_1039120.jpg)
![“Larry [Kramer] had already experienced so much loss by then from the AIDS epidemic. But I don't think it changed anything between us.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f84/kevin-sessums-9486_aids_larry-kramer-had-already-experienced-so_824073.jpg)
![“I wrote an essay too, and mine started something like, "When I was asked to contribute to this book, I said, 'I could do a piece on [Larry] Kramer as a pain in the ass, but I suppose you have too many of those, as it is.'" And Sarah's began something like, "When I read about America's angriest…” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/259/kevin-sessums-9486_activist_i-wrote-an-essay-too-and-mine-started-so_727114.jpg)
![“I believe we really became friends [with Larry Kramer] when we bonded at our fifteenth class reunion in 1972.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/68c/kevin-sessums-9486_believe_i-believe-we-really-became-friends-with_642749.jpg)
![“Larry [Kramer] and I often disagree. There was the whole meshuggaas we went through about his donating his papers to Yale, and I disagreed with him on a number of things about that. You wanted a gay center.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b54/kevin-sessums-9486_disagree_larry-kramer-and-i-often-disagree-there_2722593.jpg)
![“[Calvin Trilllin] is not writing about things that I can criticize. I can call these other people out for what I think they are not doing. There's a big difference.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d59/kevin-sessums-9486_bigs_calvin-trilllin-is-not-writing-about-thi_59424.jpg)
![“Sometimes if I am walking down the street and thinking about my panoply of God, Ganesha, Parvati [Ganesha's mother], I say "Lucifer," because he belongs in that panoply. I miss him. That's why I'm a theist.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b00/kevin-sessums-9486_ifs_sometimes-if-i-am-walking-down-the-stree_338066.jpg)
![“I just so desperately wanted to be published in New Yorker, and I'd so desperately try to get something in it. But I'd always get nice letters back telling me that Mr. Shawn [William Shawn, the New Yorker's editor from 1952 to 1987] just didn't like this or didn't like that about what I submitted.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/042/kevin-sessums-9486_editors_i-just-so-desperately-wanted-to-be-publi_606050.jpg)
![“David Remnick [the New Yorker's editor in chief]is about as interested in anything gay as I am interested in anything to do with baseball. It drives me nuts.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/eae/kevin-sessums-9486_baseball_david-remnick-the-new-yorker-s-editor-in_636097.jpg)
![“One of the few nice things about [time in Yale] was you got to know people before there were labels on them, so you got to know them as people, not as either gay or straight. Because as far as we knew, we thought everyone was straight.” quote by Kevin Sessums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3ca/kevin-sessums-9486_gay_one-of-the-few-nice-things-about-time-in_687609.jpg)
![“Shigure Sohma: [got Tohru a maid costume for White Day] I can't wait to for her to call me master while wearing this. Hatsuharu Sohma: Just don't get arrested, okay?” quote by Natsuki Takaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f2b/natsuki-takaya-2962_call-me_shigure-sohma-got-tohru-a-maid-costume-f_21416.jpg)
