Interview with Jeff Mack | Ep #26

Interview with Jeff Mack | Ep #26

Author: Rick Koonce May 13, 2022 Duration: 36:07

In October 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was brutally attacked and tied to a fence outside of Laramie, Wyoming. Five days later he died of deep wounds inflicted in one of the most vicious anti-gay attacks in American history.


In this wide-ranging interview with PFLAG Cape Cod's Rick Koonce, Jeff Mack, a personal friend of Matt's and today the Executive Vice President of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, talks movingly about Matt, his life, and the Foundation started by his parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, just months after Matt's gruesome death.


Jeff talks about the foundation's ongoing work to combat hate and prejudice. He talks, too, about the Laramie Project, a now famous play by Moises Kaufman about the city and its residents that was produced after Matthew's murder. And finally, Jeff talks about the day, in 2018, 20 years after his death, when Matthew was finally laid to rest in the safe sanctuary of Washington DC's National Cathedral.


Please click the button to subscribe so you don't miss any episodes and leave a review if your favorite podcast app has that ability. Thank you!


For more information, visit the PFLAG Cape Cod website: https://www.pflagcapecod.org/podcasts.html


© 2022 PFLAG Cape Cod


Hosted by Rick Koonce, Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage: Real Stories of Identity & Acceptance is built around intimate, unscripted conversations that go beyond headlines. This podcast lives in the personal moments-the difficult family dinner, the quiet realization, the supportive friend’s first question. You’ll hear directly from LGBTQ+ individuals, their parents, siblings, and allies, sharing narratives that are less about grand declarations and more about the daily, nuanced journey toward living authentically. The stories encompass coming out, gender transition, and the complex, ongoing search for belonging, offering a raw and moving look at what courage actually sounds like in real time. Produced by Huntington Northstar Productions in partnership with PFLAG Cape Cod, each episode functions as a personal audio journal, focusing on a single portrait where vulnerability and strength are inseparable. Listening feels like being invited into a deeply meaningful, private conversation that highlights our shared humanity. The collective result is a powerful and necessary tapestry of voices that celebrates resilience while honestly examining the challenges within families and communities. Tune in for a series that connects through specificity, where every story adds a vital thread to the broader fabric of human experience.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 56

Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage: Real Stories of Identity & Acceptance
Podcast Episodes
Loving in Secret: Felice Cohen on Coming Out Through Memoir (Encore) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:40
In this deeply moving encore episode of Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage, host Rick Koonce sits down with author Felice Cohen to explore love, secrecy, identity, and healing through storytelling. Felice shares the story behind…
Katherine Zappone on Love, Loss, and Ireland's LGBTQ Transformation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:05
In this powerful episode of Profiles in LGBTQ Courage, host Rick Koonce sits down with trailblazing Irish leader and LGBTQ advocate Katherine Zappone to explore her extraordinary journey through love, loss, politics, and…
Julia Cumes on Photography as a Force for Social Change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:26
In this episode, host Rick Koonce interviews award-winning photojournalist Julia Cumes, whose work shines a light on marginalized communities around the world. Born and raised in apartheid-era South Africa, Julia witness…
Teen Activist Bradley Forcier on Courage, Politics & Pride [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:25
In this episode of Profiles in LGBTQ+ Courage, host Rick Koonce sits down with 16-year-old activist and student Bradley Forcier, whose story is both inspiring and timely. Bradley, a rising junior at Falmouth Academy, sha…