{"id":4850,"date":"2016-11-01T08:54:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T08:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theme.getpojo.com\/buzz\/?page_id=2351"},"modified":"2018-07-21T11:39:19","modified_gmt":"2018-07-21T11:39:19","slug":"about-duane","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/about-duane\/","title":{"rendered":"About Duane"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"4850\" class=\"elementor elementor-4850 elementor-bc-flex-widget\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2108738 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2108738\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-02614e8\" data-id=\"02614e8\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0ae6979 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"0ae6979\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<ul class=\"page_list\">\n<li class=\"bio_sec\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/biography\/\">Biography<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"gallery_sec\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/image-gallery\/\">Gallery<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"press_sec\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/press-gallery\/\">Press<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"press_sec\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/livingwells-video\/\">Video<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"press_sec\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/contact-us\/\">Contact<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3bada02 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"3bada02\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6da7ea6\" data-id=\"6da7ea6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e306b1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"0e306b1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"429\" height=\"445\" src=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Duane-Wells.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-5191\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Duane-Wells.jpg 429w, https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Duane-Wells-289x300.jpg 289w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c1003c4\" data-id=\"c1003c4\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-beafcd5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"beafcd5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-221b910 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"221b910\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Duane Wells: A Biography<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bfd0104 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bfd0104\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><div class=\"sub_title\">\u201c<\/div><b><span style=\"font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%\">I\ndo not profess to write about things that are truly important,I do however\nprofess to write about the things a great many people truly care about.<\/span><\/b><div class=\"sub_title\">\u201d<\/div>\n<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e416176 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e416176\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If there is one thing to be said about Duane Wells it is that he has made his mark in a number of professional arenas with rapid-fire speed.\u00a0 Never one to proverbially allow the grass to grow under his feet, he has never ceased to dream and create, often times with staggering results.\u00a0 And according to Duane, \u201cThe best is yet to come!\u201d<\/p><p>A native of Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Stanton College Preparatory School, Duane went on to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he studied Finance.\u00a0 During his undergraduate years, he spent a year studying European Integration and International Business at Nijenrode University in The Netherlands, an experience he credits with forever broadening his world view.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-43e3956 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"43e3956\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5fd6351\" data-id=\"5fd6351\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-34cab27 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"34cab27\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>After graduating from Georgetown with a BSBA degree in Finance, Duane accepted a position in Liz Claiborne Inc.\u2019s executive training program in New York City. Assigned to the retail division, Duane worked directly with the president of the division and the senior management team learning every aspect of Claiborne\u2019s extensive retail business. However, eighteen months after joining the company, Duane headed west to attend UCLA Law School. Simple as it seemed on the surface, this would prove to be a more major decision than he had envisioned.<\/p><p><span style=\"letter-spacing: 0.2px;\">While at UCLA, Duane stumbled upon a flyer seeking a producer for a student short film.\u00a0 Seeking respite from the tedium of law school, he decided to throw his hat into the ring for consideration and landed the gig. Within weeks, he was learning how to produce short films alongside some of the best and brightest young filmmakers in the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Jolted into coming to terms with his passion for the creative process, Duane left law school to co-produce a short-film based on the life of Wall Street wunderkind, Buddy Fletcher, entitled\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Black, Inc,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>which was screened around the country and began his long-term affiliation with what would later become Windfall Productions<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>.<\/i><\/span>\u00a0In that same year, Duane made his first foray into publishing by writing a men\u2019s fashion column titled \u201cMaleBox\u201d for DYSONNA Magazine, a Los Angeles-based urban arts and entertainment magazine.<\/p><p>In just short of two years, Duane rose from contributing writer to Entertainment Editor to Managing Editor at DYSONNA quickly putting his imprimatur on what was already a superior, if struggling, publication. Under Duane\u2019s direction, DYSONNA moved from a quarterly production schedule to a bi-monthly schedule, improved distribution, substantially increased the number and caliber of writing staff, added regular columns on lifestyle issues, grew its subscriber base exponentially and defined its focus on cutting edge personalities and fashion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>Also, under Duane\u2019s direction, DYSONNA made much more extensive use of innovative photographers and stylists to enhance the overall look and visual aesthetic of the magazine.\u00a0 In short, Duane\u2019s contributions were substantial.\u00a0 After three years at DYSONNA, Duane left the magazine to pursue other opportunities, but continued to contribute to the magazine as a featured writer for several years thereafter.<\/p><p>In 1999, Duane began a successful creative collaboration with QTMagazine.com, a leading online travel magazine, as a regular travel and fashion correspondent. Following QTMagazine.com\u2019s purchase by Gsociety, Inc., Duane built upon his successful relationship as a contributing writer for QTMagazine.com and became a regular contributor to the Gsociety family of websites, a relationship that thrived through the last quarter of 2002 when the corporation underwent a restructuring.<\/p><p>Over the years, Duane has profiled legions of business titans, creative types and foundation executives as wells as such notable personalities as:\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Lady Gaga, Eva Longoria-Parker, Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Tony Bennett, Jackie Collins, Joan Collins, Armistead Maupin, Chaka Khan, Vanessa Williams, Sigourney Weaver, Patti LaBelle, Eartha Kitt,\u00a0 Denyce Graves, Dan Futterman, Chris Cornell, Darren Hayes, Andy Bell, Dave Koz, Kristine W, Eric Benet, Jody Watley, Fantasia Barrino, Jennifer Hudson, Heather Headley, Mekhi Phifer, Martha Wash, Levi Kreis, Janice Dickinson, James St. James<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Nancy Wilson,\u00a0<\/span>among others<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p><p>From 2005 \u2013 2008, Duane contributed a weekly missive on style entitled\u00a0<i>Style Matters<\/i>\u00a0in addition to music features and regular travel columns for 365gay.com, a subsidiary of gay television network\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">LOGO<\/span>.\u00a0 Around the same time period, from August 2006 until February 2009, Duane served as Editor-at-Large for\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">GayWired Media<\/span>\u00a0in which capacity he oversaw content related to politics, entertainment, travel and style for the site and a bundle of its associated sister properties. In February 2009, he was named Managing Editor of GayWired.com and remained in that role until the site was shuttered in August 2009.<\/p><p>In 2008, Duane also debuted a daily radio program entitled \u201cHere\u2019s The Thing with Duane Wells\u201d on NextTrip.com, which was heard on the web and on some terrestrial radio across the U.S.\u00a0 The hour-long travel program became a cornerstone of the fledgling network\u2019s schedule and earned raves from the travel community until it went on hiatus in spring 2009. From 2010 to 2012, Duane was also the resident luxury travel and Lifestyle expert at\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>MoxieQ<\/i><\/span>, a revolutionary new cross-platform destination for modern women that is written entirely and exclusively by gay men.\u00a0 Each month MoxieQ\u2019s nearly 300,000 unique readers logged in to read Duane\u2019s weekly blog entitled \u201c<i>Living Wells: My Life i<\/i>n\u00a0<i>Luggage\u201d\u00a0<\/i>and check his daily Tweets<i>.<\/i><\/p><p>Duane is currently developing a new travel series for distribution, while continuing to serve as a contributing writer for a number of print and online travel and lifestyle publications including\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Passport, Instinct, GayTravelNews, Advocate<\/i><\/span>and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Advocate,com<\/i><\/span>in the U.S.,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Beige\u00a0<\/i><\/span>and\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Bent<\/i><\/span>\u00a0magazines in the United Kingdom, and the Toronto-based Canadian luxury travel and design magazine\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Homefront,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>where he debuted his quarterly lifestyle column called \u201c<i>Living Wells<\/i>\u201d in 2007.\u00a0\u00a0In 2012, Duane moved his Living Wells blog to\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Frontiers Magazine\u2019s<\/i><\/span>\u00a0online home at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.frontiersla.com\/\">www.frontiersla.com<\/a>, for which he also acts as a travel correspondent.<\/p><p>Writing and entertainment aside, Duane has, over the last decade and a half, developed a significant profile as a fundraiser \/ special events professional and media relations consultant for a number of non-profit organizations in Los Angeles.\u00a0\u00a0Collectively he has helped raise millions of dollars for causes ranging from HIV\/AIDS to civil liberties and produced events featuring celebrated personalities including\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Judith Light<\/span>, Patti Labelle,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Babyface, Debbie Allen<\/span>,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Magic Johnson, Kathy Najimy, Samuel L. Jackson<\/span>, leading constitutional scholar\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Floyd Abrams<\/span>\u00a0and the late columnist\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Molly Ivins<\/span>, just to name a few.<\/p><p>From 1998 &#8211; 2001, Duane worked as West Coast Director of Development and Entertainment Industry Affairs for Howard University\u2019s Department of Radio Television and Film alongside actor\/director\/producer\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Bill Duke<\/span>, the then AOL-Time Warner Chair of the Department.\u00a0\u00a0And in 2002, he completed a one-year stint as Director of Special Projects for L.A. Shanti, an organization which provided emotional support services to people with life-threatening illnesses, with a primary focus on those infected and affected by HIV\/AIDS.<\/p><p>Among the other charitable organizations that Duane has worked with are: AIDS Project Los Angeles, The West Angeles Community Development Corporation, The Names Project, The ACLU of Southern California, AIDS Service Center, The Liberty Hill Foundation, The Facing Forward Foundation, The Bill Duke Scholarship Fund, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and Loyola Marymount University.<\/p><p>A resident of Los Angeles, Duane has recently been toiling over a number of projects which include his first novel,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Heaven or Hell, Darling?<\/i><\/span>, a collection of his previously published work entitled\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>Why I Hate Ribbons, Wristbands and F*%king Rainbows!<\/i><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0as well as a collection of short essays entitled,\u00a0<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><i>One Day I Woke Up and Everyone was Wearing Culottes!<\/i><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Duane is also developing a new hour-long radio program in addition to other travel-related projects.<\/p><p>It\u2019s not hard to see why Duane believes the best is yet to come\u2026it\u2019s clear he\u2019s only just begun.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biography Gallery Press Video Contact Duane Wells: A Biography \u201cI do not profess to write about things that are truly important,I do however profess to write about the things a great many people truly care about.\u201d If there is one thing to be said about Duane Wells it is that he has made his mark [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4850","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4850"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5274,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4850\/revisions\/5274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}