New TG Archive Acquisition: Autographed 1st Ed, Canary Conn Biography

Posted by admin on Dec 31, 2008 in Education, TG Archive | 2 comments

The Transgender Archive located in Houston, Texas has added this autographed, first edition of Canary: The Story of a Transsexual to it’s rare book collection. In the 1970s, Canary Conn appeared regularly on the syndicated Merv Griffin Television Show and often on Tom Snyder’s NBC Tomorrow show. Before she became Canary Conn, Canary was Danny O’Connor. Her autobiography, Canary (1974) was a best seller. It tells the story of an aspiring young singer-songwriter, who first lived as a young man before living as a woman.

1st Ed With Jacket

Competing against 10,000 others in a nationwide talent contest in the late 1960s, Danny won first prize, was named “Best Teenage Male Vocalist in America”, and landed a recording contract with Capitol Records in the late 1960s. Judges included Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, and Mason Williams. 

Realizing that she was miserable as a man, Danny separated from her wife and decided to undergo the first stage of a sex-change operation. She had the procedure performed in Tijuana, Mexico. Two years later, Canary could afford the second-stage procedure. However, living as both male and female and, at the same time, as neither, coupled with working many jobs to save money, and being alone nearly led her to commit suicide.

Inscription & Autograph 

The book is inscribed, “Bob, enjoyed meeting & talking with you yesterday. You seemed interested & I thought I’d  give you a copy of my first book to help answer some of the questions. Best Wishes Canary (The Bird) 9/20/76″  This rare edition is now available for review in the Transgender Archive located at the TFA Transgender Center in Houston, Texas.