From large cities to rural communities, gay men have long been impassioned pioneers as keepers of culture: rescuing and restoring decrepit buildings, revitalizing blighted neighborhoods, saving artifacts and documents of historical significance. This penchant to preserve, though widely observed, is typically ignored or dismissed as a stereotypical gay cliché, even by many gay men themselves. A Passion to Preserve explores this authentic and complex dimension of gay men's lives by profiling early and contemporary preservationists from throughout the United States. This book illuminates neglected facets of what it means to be gay, and highlights contributions to the larger culture that gays are exceptionally inclined to make.

Fellows's first book was the best-selling Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest. In A Passion to Preserve, Fellows expands upon the art of oral history he employed so successfully in Farm Boys.