Porczak, Walter

Walter Porczak (1935-1984) was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father had immigrated from Poland. A graduate of the City College of New York and Cooper Union Walter Porczak was by profession a licensed engineer and was employed for a time by the City of New York as a director of technical services. As a youth he became passionately fond of the theater, an interest which he carried over into his adult life. He studied playwriting at Columbia University, the New School and at the Herbert Macheison Workshop. His first professional play, the "Soft-Core Kid" (1976), was written in collaboration with his friend, the playwright, Frank Hogan. It was first produced in New York at the Glines, a center for gays at 260 West Broadway founded by John Glines to encourage the development gay arts and culture. Porczak and Hogan collaborated on several other plays which appear not to have been produced professionally. Walter Porczak was also known by his pen name "Walter Kubran". A memorial service for Porczak was given by his friends at the Unity Center in New York on May 6, 1984.