Processing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.

Arrangement: chronological, then alphabetical.

Personal and professional correspondence and related materials. For the most part, the the original arrangement of the letters and original folder titles have been retained. Researchers are advised to look for letters in several different places since years may overlap and alphabetical filing and date spans are not always consistent or as labeled. Letters from Young during his time in Basic Training, 1966-1967, and during the Vietnam War, 1968-1969, were separated by Young and filed with materials concerning Vietnam and the Vietnam War. Correspondence during the time when Young was conducting research for Two of the Missing was separated by Young and included with materials relating to that book. Letters from his mother are sometimes filed under Rheba Stanton and sometimes under Rheba Young. Note the presence of many carbon copies of outgoing letters.

Professional correspondence includes letters concerning specific publications for which Young worked, rejection letters from publishers, editing remarks, and letters about business dealings and finances. Personal correspondence includes letters to and from family members and friends. Frequent and regular correspondents include representatives of publishers Arbor House; literary agents James Brown and David Stewart Hull of James Brown Associates, Inc.; Perry Knowlton and Richard Parks of Curtis Brown, Ltd.; Bent Christensen; musician Casse Culver; Rosemary Daniell, Ron Dorfman; Ron Hollander; Young's older sister, Grace Hornowski, also known as Grace Young Miller Hornowski; David Hume Kennerly; David Kopay; Lewis Lapham at Harper's Magazine; Kenneth Maley; George Page; Reynolds Price; Patricia Soliman of publishers Coward, McCann, and Geohegan, Inc.; Young's mother, Rheba Stanton; author William "Bill" C. Wright; and Young's brother, Robert Young. From 1960 to 1971, letter writers include Paul Friedlander, travel editor of the New York Times; William Hefferle of United Press International; William A. McWhirter, associate editor of LIFE Magazine; Sherry Sitton; and Sureva Seligson.

Correspondence from 1972 also includes letters dated 1971-1974. Many of the letters concern the writing of Two of the Missing and related articles, although letters and interviews used for the book itself are filed with the Two of the Missing material. During these years, there is much correspondence with Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, the Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and photographer Nik Wheeler. Also included are some financial records.

Correspondence, 1973-1974, also includes some later letters. During these years, Young was still involved with writing Two of the Missing but also working on The David Kopay Story. Correspondence filed under 1974 to 1976 also include some earlier letters. These letters mostly concern the time after Two of the Missing was released in 1975, including a copy of an undated letter from Truman Capote congratulating Young on Two of the Missing.

Correspondence, 1976-1977, also includes some letters from 1975 to 1980. Correspondents include musician Casse Culver. Also included are letters concerning a possible sequel to The David Kopay Story and a book idea called "The Gospel According to Anita Bryant." An undated letter from Gloria Steinem while she worked at Ms. Magazine is a response to a letter Young wrote her concerning gender issues.

Correspondence, 1981-1982, includes some earlier letters. Included are letters and other material related to a court case involving the Walsh, Mesmer and Associates, which managed the apartment Young lived in in Washington, D.C. Also included are letters from people involved with the Ossabaw Island Project, including the then owner of the island, Eleanor Torrey West ("Sandy"), and the director of the project, Albert Bradford. Some letters refer to a proposed novel, "Notes on Victims of Understanding or Understanding Victims." Correspondents include artist Judy Loeb, H. C. "Robbie" Robertson, Hannah Tillich, and poet Robert VanderMolen.

Correspondence from 1982 also includes some earlier and later letters. Letters concern turning Two of the Missing into a screenplay and the development of God's Bullies. Correspondents include Charles Brydon of the Dorian Group, a gay rights organization; Penthouse; Channa Taub, editor of A Killing Cure; and Jonathan Yardley at the Washington Post. Also included are letters from writer Timothy Ferris; a letter from Allen Ginsberg dated 17 May 1982, referring to a Jack Kerouac Conference; and letters from former North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford while he was president of Duke University. Also included are a large number of greeting cards sent to Perry Deane Young in the 1980s.

Correspondence, writings, collected materials, maps, and photographs relating to the Vietnam War. Most letters are to friends and family during Young's basic training, 1966-1967; letters to friends and family, 1968-1969, during Young's time as a journalist in Vietnam; and letters to Jim Shumaker, editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, about the Vietnam War.

Writings include diaries, notes, and articles Young wrote during the Vietnam War. Collected materials include tourist information related to Vietnam, military information, and information from the anti-war and draft resistance movements. Maps are USGS Topographic Maps of Vietnam and Cambodia and a tourist map of Saigon. Pictures include photographs taken during military action and personal photos taken during the Vietnam War by Dana Stone, Tim Page, Sean Flynn, and Nik Wheeler. Some photographs were taken of friends at China Beach in Danang, and of John Steinbeck IV and other friends on Phoenix Island in the Mekong delta with the Buddhist Coconut Monk.

Processing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.

Letters, writings, subject files, and research notes relating to Two of the Missing, about the disappearance of journalists Dana Stone and Sean Flynn in Vietnam. Included are letters from and interviews with people who had known Stone and Flynn and transcriptions of tapes that Stone sent home as letters to his family.

Writings include manuscripts and proofs for the book and outlines, comments, and drafts of screenplay adaptations with Ralph Hemecker and Robert Eisele. Note that one of the original titles of Two of the Missing was "Groovin' on the Danger." For the most part, original folder titles have been retained.

Writings, legal materials, subject files, and research notes relating to A Killing Cure, about Evelyn Walker's malpractice suit alleging abuse by her psychotherapist. Legal materials relate to Evelyn B. Walker v. Zane D. Parzen, M.D., et al, including depositions, records, and documents used in the trial and associated trials. Subject files include clippings on the court case and Evelyn Walker, background research on psychiatric abuse, and files and notes on people and places related to the case. The original folder titles have been retained when possible.

Processing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.

Other writings include notes, news articles, letters, and writings associated with Young's proposed book, "The Trials of Police Sergeant Mitch Grobeson." In the 1980s, Sgt. Mitchell Grobeson was the first openly gay police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department.

Also included is an article in The Asheville Citizen commenting on Young's article "Goodbye, Asheville" in Harper's Magazine in March 1975 and a 2004 program for the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART) featuring Perry Deane Young and William Gregg's play Mountain of Hope.