Meet Michael Mungin!: An RT member profile by Tess Goldwasser

By Tess Goldwasser

Michael is a member of the GLBTRT Reviews Committee. He loves it because it allows him to review films and spread the word about recent LGBT-themed movies that he says “simply yearn to be seen by a wider audience.”

Michael is the psychology librarian at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. He does reference, research, instruction, service, and collection development. He wishes he could do more readers advisory but says, ”In many ways, I feel like I’ve reached my professional goals. I love what I do, it’s fulfilling, and I feel like I make a positive impact on people’s lives, which is what I want from my work.”

Michael has obsessions with both tennis and film history, and wishes he lived closer to his wonderful partner in Connecticut. When I asked him what he was most proud of, he shared that he used to struggle with “really awful” issues with self-esteem: “I’m proud of how thoroughly I’ve excised both the way that I used to think about myself and the way I viewed the world from my mind. It can be very hard to learn to let yourself off the hook sometimes.”

If Michael was an animal, he would be a butterfly, because “No one ever suspects the butterfly.” [Cue mischievous laughter]

If he could have a dinner party with 5 culturally or historically significant figures, living or dead, he would invite Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Howard Stern, Conan O’Brien and Oprah Winfrey. He says, “I wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise but I’d love to witness the fireworks.”