"Paul for Pete: Politics. Theatre. Life. One Man's Adventures (or, How I Became a Septuagenarian Fanboy)" chronicles the author's journey from the sidelines to the center of the 2020 political fray, when he volunteered as a grassroots fundraiser for the Pete Buttigieg campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and became a member of the Pete For America Arts Policy Advisory Committee. Not new to hard work, but new to a political campaign, Barnes took advantage of his cross-country travels as a theatre director, making it possible for him to witness up close an unlikely political story unfold, gain traction, and deliver hope to millions of Americans who were thirsting for a different voice in presidential politics. Getting in on the ground floor of the campaign (although never an official employee of Pete for America), the author became a committed "fanboy" as Buttigieg transitioned from relative unknown to viable competitor, capturing the hearts and loyalty of legions of Americans. "Paul for Pete" goes beyond the 2020 campaign as the author traces his background as a teacher, director, and theatre maker, and as an openly gay man in the second half of the 20th/ first part of the 21st centuries. Barnes also shares the turn his work on the campaign took when his life partner of 46 years experienced a stroke, resulting in expressive aphasia and, before COVID-19 locked down much of the country, providing the author with a new role: that of caregiver. Divided into five sections ("Infatuation," "Courtship," "Dating," "Commitment," and "Trial Separation" with a Prelude, an Interlude, and an Afterword), "Paul for Pete" has been described as a love story, an anthem to taking a chance, an ode to friendship, and an essential book for our times.

Paul Mason Barnes grew up in 1950s Connecticut and 1960s California, the son of loving, Eisenhower Republicans. Moving west when he was in junior high school, Barnes came to terms with his sexual identity during the tumultuous, liberating '60s, lived in San Francisco during the "Summer of Love," and eventually became a high school drama teacher. Never content with the status quo, Barnes left teaching for the professional theatre, and moved to Ashland, Oregon where he met actor-director Jim Edmondson, his partner of 46 years. It took Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination to catapult Barnes off the sidelines and into the Pete for America campaign, first as a contributor, next as a grassroots fundraiser, and finally as a member of the PFA Arts Policy Advisory Committee. By the time Pete Buttigieg appeared from the enveloping darkness of the catastrophic Trump years, Barnes had established himself as a versatile, award-winning freelance theatre director, sometimes referred to as "the working-est director in America," with a steady flow of projects at regional theatres, festivals, and university training programs across the country. His travels in America - to directing assignments , campaign stops, and home to Oregon - made his inaugural and well-traveled "fanboy" adventure vivid, visceral, and memorable -- particularly when, midway through the campaign, Barnes's partner experienced a stroke, resulting in expressive aphasia five weeks before Edmondson was to begin rehearsals for Tony Kushner's "Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika," one of the most complex and challenging American plays ever written. Barnes and Edmondson's adjustment to this new chapter in their lives becomes a moving and reverberant thread in the fabric of the fanboy adventure. "Paul for Pete" has been described as a hero's journey, triggered by Hillary Clinton's loss of the 2016 Electoral College vote and spurred into action when then-Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg's appeared on the national political scene. Inspired by Buttigieg's authenticity, intelligence, level-headedness, bedrock values, progressive ideas, and human compassion, Barnes leapt off the high board into the political fray for what turned out to be an inspiring, life-changing 14 months. Divided into five sections ("Infatuation," "Courtship," "Dating," "Commitment," "Trial Separation," with an extensive Prelude, Interlude, and Epilogue, "Paul for Pete" includes numerous detours and sidebars as Barnes weaves together two remarkable narratives: his own life story and that of an unlikely campaign, led by a dynamic and inspiring new voice in American politics. "Paul for Pete" has been described as a love story, an anthem to taking a chance, an ode to friendship, and essential reading for our times.