Leathermen

Sections below: May 2007 (Issue #7) | July 2007 (Issue #8) | December 2007 (Issue #9). | August 2008 (Issue #10): Larry Townsend Tribute | August 2009 (Issue #12).

AUGUST 2009 (Issue #12)

EDITORIAL: August 2009 Issue Introduction. By Dusk Peterson. (Posted at the True Tales blog.)

FICTION AND ART: Becoming Real (PDF file). By david stein. Illustrated by Axel. (From the story collection Boots, Bondage, and Beatings. Posted at the publisher's site.) A slave makes a most unusual request.

These are the only words I am permitted to speak when I am alone in the cell. I do not rebel against this or the rules, nor provoke punishment to enforce them. This is the life I asked for, and I do my best to follow the program.

NONFICTION: Pissing in the Wind (PDF file). By Jack Fritscher. (From Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer Vol 1. Posted at the author's site.) In the Mineshaft bar, back in 1978, life was a little wilder.

One night, a perfectly groomed dude climbed into the tub wearing wingtips, a Brooks Brothers dark wool suit, Ivy League tie, a white oxford cloth dress shirt which, when he pulled open the suit coat, exposed holes cut over his large nipples on his hairy chest.

FICTION: The First Rule of Fight Club is . . . By Maculategiraffe. (A side story in the Slave Breakers series. Posted at the author's blog.) Rough sex has a special meaning for Holden and Jer.

"I'm getting too old for this," Holden remarked, yanking Jer back hard with serious satisfaction in his involuntary hiss.

FICTON: Coitus Interruptus. By M. Chandler. (A side story in the Shadow of the Templar series, which is also available in print. Posted at the author's site.) The leader of an FBI team ends up in bed with entirely the wrong person.

"The good old days, when we could fight crime with fire," Simon agreed, eyeing Jeremy and silently willing him to take it personally. Jeremy's eyebrows lifted. "I miss all those times we'd set some useless scumbag two-bit thief on fire just to teach the others a lesson . . ." Jeremy mouthed, Useless?

AUGUST 2008 (Issue #10)

"Larry Townsend doesn't have an entry in Wikipedia," my boy announced after he searched for online information to help explain to vanilla friends who the late author of The Leatherman's Handbook had been.

NONFICTION: Obituary of Larry Townsend in the Los Angeles Times.

NONFICTION: "Legendary": Obituary of Larry Townsend. By Jack Fritscher. (En français, adapté par Wilfried Levrey.)

Spill a drop for lost brothers . . .

NONFICTION: Who Lit up the "Lit" of the Golden Age of Drummer? (PDF file). By Larry Townsend. His most recent published work. (Posted at DrummerArchives.com. Introduction to the book From Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer Vol 1.)

I think we have to recognize that the glory years of golden sexuality, especially in San Francisco, coincided with the Golden Age of Drummer. 

NONFICTION: Interview with Larry Townsend. Interviewed by Jack Rinella. (Posted at the Leather Archives & Museum.)

"I have two good sized file boxes which are full of letters that I have gotten from people all over the world mostly on the first handbook, but some on the second saying, 'thank you for writing it,' 'I thought I was the only person in the world, you told me how to do things.'"

FICTION: Time Masters 1. By Larry Townsend. (Posted at the author's site.) A hustler walks into a police station and announces he's from the past.

"So anyways, this guy is real smart, see, 'cause he keeps tellin' me what a great bod I have, and he's stroking me and he finally gets me to turn onto my stomach and he's rubbing my back, and – oh! – it feels so fuckin' good, but I'm worried about the extra bread, so I say something – don't remember just what – and he tells me not to worry, he'll make it worth my time. And I'm layin' there, wondering why a guy as good-looking as him has to pay for it . . ."

NONFICTION: Tribute to Larry Townsend. By Thomas Roche. (Posted at the author's site.)

Voila, another straight made unnarrow by sex information and porn. Thanks, Larry.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Of Men, Ropes and Remembrance. Photographer unknown. (Cover art for the book by Larry Townsend. Posted at Amazon.)

NONFICTION: The Limitations of The Leatherman's Handbook. By Teddypig. (Posted at The Naughty Bits.) A cautionary tale.

I stripped and lay there on the bed expecting the typical few swats and a fuck I had thought would take place. Well, the flogging part I got right but one thing led to another and next thing I know those beautiful blue eyes had me wordlessly accepting first one then another and another till the best way I can describe it I was literally pinned to his bed.

NONFICTION: Larry Townsend Speaks to San Diego Leather Pride. By Mark Gabrish Colman. (Posted at Zenger's Newsmagazine.)

Asked to comment on the Internet and its effect on the Leather community, Townsend said, "It's pretty hard to do the hanky codes on the Internet."

NONFICTION: Leather Dolce Vita, Pop Culture, and the Prime of Mr. Larry Townsend. (Also see the PDF version.) By Jack Fritscher. (Introduction to The Silver Jubilee Edition Commemorating the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of The Leatherman's Handbook, by Larry Townsend.)

By 1969, he was circulating his famous mimeographed sadomasochistic questionnaire through the circuit of leather men. . . .  Townsend's was the job of the good reporter scouting the latest news of the newest liberation front during an astounding period in American culture.

NONFICTION: Interview with Larry Townsend. Interviewed by Bob Wingate. (Originally published in Bound & Gagged. Reprinted on the interviewer's blog.)

"He started me off with 'The City and the Pillar' and introduced me to a lot of historical things where not necessarily overtly sexual sado-masochism was taking place but the implication was there. And I think that that's when I started to have a really conscious desire to involve myself with SM, though not necessarily as Ivan the Terrible did."

NONFICTION: A Tribute to The Leatherman's Handbook. By boy jesse. (Posted at the author's blog.)

BAM – right between the eyes. I hadn't read a word of the actual book yet but I saw exactly what sort of terminology I'd been searching for all this time to confirm that there were other people like myself.

NONFICTION: Larry Townsend, R.I.P. By Charlie Jane Anders. (Posted at io9: Strung out on science fiction.)

We were saddened to hear of the passing of science fiction pioneer Larry Townsend, who helped to invent the queer erotic SF subgenre.

VIDEO: Larry Townsend: Where Are You Going? By GARi. (Posted at YouTube.) See also the video creator's note and his alternate versions.

DECEMBER 2007 (Issue #9)

ART: Bound. By Robert W. Richards. (Posted at the artist's site.)

NONFICTION: The Needle is Mightier Than the Whip. By Tom A. Gordon. (Posted at The Deviants' Dictionary.) A bottom-man faces his phobia.

My friend was not restrained: I had refused to restrain him and required that he voluntarily submit to the needle, and submit to the necessity of keeping himself under control.

VIDEO: Just for Leather. Directed by Lawrence Ferrara. (News article on the film. Director's contact information.) When two men meet at a leather bar, they play a game of "Who's on top?"

JULY 2007 (Issue #8)

NONFICTION: Visit to a Leather Club. By Lars Menardier. Translated by Quirt. (Danish original. Originally published in November 1965 in Issue #3 of MANège, a Danish gay magazine. Posted at Gay Leather Fetish History at Cuirmale.) A reporter visits a semi-secret Copenhagan leather club and finds that there's more to it than whips and chains.

"Black is always nice. Let me know if you want more beer. Is there anybody who wants to have salted almonds?"

PHOTOGRAPHY: Illustration for Visit to a Leather Club. Photographer unknown. (Posted at Gay Leather Fetish History at Cuirmale.)

POETRY: The Dark Heart of Love. By Rob Cole. When you don't know your limits.

Bare skin on bare skin, Your hands caress my back, trailing electricity.

MUSIC VIDEO: Boot Camp. Music and direction by John Matthews. (Alternative link. Information on the cast and director.) A novice enters a leather bar and gets more than he bargained for. A video that's definitely not just for the leather crowd.

Post comments about this issue at the truetales blog.

MAY 2007 (Issue #7)

FICTION: Daddy Takes a Holiday. By Rick West. (Posted at Max Wood's Savagelust.) A fister tries to recover from a broken love affair at New Orleans's Southern Decadence festival. 

"What all do you like?" [he asked.] I held his gaze steady as I replied, "Force and intimacy."

ART: Consent. By Neil Bruce. ( Posted at Bear Naked Art. Artist's gallery. Artist's site. Artist's Yahoo Group.)

NONFICTION: Instant Disco History, Vol. 3. By Joe.My.God. (Posted at the author's blog.) A gay man decides to take the plunge and investigate the leather world. 

I would use the leather bar as a barometer of fuckability, when I saw a hot guy. If he left his car and went into MY bar, then he was a possibility. If he went into, or if I saw him coming out of the leather bar, he was right off the list. Right. Off.

MUSIC VIDEO: Walk the Night. By the Skatt Bros. (Posted at YouTube. Band bio at The DiscoMuseum.) A fan's video of a 1979 song that was popular in gay clubs of the time. As Joe.My.God. puts it, "I guess the straight clubs didn't have a big call for disco songs about gay S/M rape scenes."