About Waide Aaron Riddle
Waide Aaron Riddle was born in Kingsville, Texas on August 15 1963 and raised in Houston. He also spent a great deal of time in Austin and Denver, Colorado. During his childhood, his teachers urged him into writing, since his strength was in Creative Writing and Poetry. In 1982 he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and studied Cosmetology. His mother, Gloria Riddle, was an award winning classical musician, artist, painter, sculptor and dancer. She attended the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Music. His father, Walter Riddle, was a labor-man and telephone repair technician for the city of Houston. Walter also attended classes at UTA and that's where he met Gloria. His brother, Wesley Riddle, is retired military, Army, and is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and Oxford University in England. He majored in Political Science and History. After graduating from Beauty School in 1982, Waide headed back to Houston for a short time. In September of 1984, Waide moved to Hollywood to pursue acting. He quickly realized his teachers were right, he was a Writer, but he just didn't know how to pursue it. He was cast in bit parts, including the 1987 cult horror classic, The Necromancer, which was reissued by Vinegar Syndrome in 2020. He also did local theatre (Dream Boy/1985), and worked in high profile salons; Saks 5th Avenue, Neiman Marcus & Jose Eber, for the rest of the 1980s. Disenchanted and questioning Los Angeles, he moved to Denver in the summer of 1993. He went back to Beauty School where he apprenticed for master hair stylist Paul Garcia. While working under Mr. Garcia, Waide studied at the prestigious Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy and the American Crew Academy. In the summer of 1995, restless in Denver, and against his mother's wishes, he chose to move back to familiar territory: Los Angeles. He secured Licensing in Cosmetology in California and New York State. Again, cast in bit parts, and doing theatre, he stayed in the game throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 1996, he won his first major poetry award from the prestigious National Author's Registry for his poem Two Men Kissing. This was followed-up by the President's Award in 1997. He credits the trade magazine Poets & Writers for inspiring him in poetry. In 2002, Waide wrote the long-form poem, The Chocolate Man: A Children's Horror Tale, which would go on to be reviewed by Cleveland State University as 'a children's classic!' His poems Something Wicked Dwells, A Haunting in Arkansas, Dark Circus, Grandmother's Roses, Timing is Everything, Two Men Kissing, 31 October Street, Auschwitz & The Green That is Ireland are award-winners, published and in audio-book form. In 2007, his mother, Gloria, passed away from a Glioblastoma grade-four brain tumor. This specific event changed his life and put him on a completely different emotional path. In 2008, he produced and directed the short film Two Men Kissing. It premiered at Cannes Short Film Corner, Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, North Carolina LGBT Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest and over 20 other international film fests. In 2010, he produced and directed the short film Washington Park. He admits, it wasn't his best effort, but he tried. It did, however, teach him what NOT to do when producing film. And, in the end, it screened at the SAG Short Film Showcase in NYC. In 2011, Waide produced and directed the short film Lost Hills, Ca. based on his award-winning poem. This visual experimental fi...