John Joseph "Jack" Fritscher (born June 20, 1939) is an American author,[1] university professor, historian, and social activist known internationally for his fiction, erotica, and nonfiction analyses of pop culture and gay male culture. An activist prior to the Stonewall riots, he was an out and founding member of the Journal of Popular Culture. Fritscher became highly influential as editor of Drummer magazine.[2][3]
Fritscher was born June 20, 1939, in Jacksonville and raised in Peoria, Illinois.[4] His family was Catholic.[4] Born during the Great Depression and growing up during World War II in rental housing, Fritscher was part of the gay generation who in their teens, during the 1950s, rebelled against conformity through the birth of pop culture and the Beats.[5]
From a young age he was raised to believe he should be a priest.[4] In 1953 at age 14, Fritscher attended the Pontifical College Josephinum, for both high school and college,[4] studying Latin and Greek. He earned a degree in philosophy in 1961, followed by graduate work in theology and the Scholasticism of Thomas Aquinas (1961–1963).[citation needed] He was also schooled by Jesuits in the Humanism of Marsilio Ficino, Erasmus, and Jacques Maritain. While in school, Fritscher earned his first publication (1958) and the production of his first play (1959). He has said that while he was celibate at the seminary, "I probably became gay because of the Josephinum, although nothing happened (to me) there."[6] In 1962 and 1963, inspired by French Worker-Priests and tutored by Saul Alinsky, Fritscher worked as a social activist on the South Side of Chicago.[4] He was ordained by the Apostolic Delegate to the orders of porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte.
In 1964, he entered Loyola University Chicago and completed his master's and doctoral program, writing a dissertation on Tennessee Williams entitled Love and Death in Tennessee Williams (1968).[7][8]
Academic life and writing
In 1961 Fritscher arrived in San Francisco and established a base there.[5] Beginning in 1965, he taught at Loyola University Chicago, received tenure at Western Michigan University, and was a regular visiting lecturer at Kalamazoo College.[citation needed] From 1968 to 1975, he served on the board of directors of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts where he founded and directed the museum film program.[citation needed] In 1969 he founded and taught the first film-as-literature courses at the Western Michigan University Department of English.[citation needed] In San Francisco in between academic posts, Fritscher used his academic credentials and publishing career in the Catholic press to find jobs as an editorial writer for KGO-ABC TV, as a technical writer for the San Francisco Muni Metro, and as manager of marketing at Kaiser Engineers, Inc. (1976–1982).[citation needed]
Fritscher has published both fiction and nonfiction. His first novel was What They Did to the Kid: Confessions of an Altar Boy (1965), and his first gay novel was I Am Curious (Leather) aka Leather Blues (1969). He authored the first book to investigate gay Wicca and witchcraft, Popular Witchcraft Straight from the Witch's Mouth (1972).[9] His short-story collection Corporal in Charge of Taking Care of Captain O'Malley (Gay Sunshine Press, 1984) was the first collection of leather fiction, and the first collection of fiction from Drummer magazine. The title entry Corporal in Charge was the only play published by editor Winston Leyland in the Lambda Literary Award Winner Gay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine - An Anthology of Gay History, Sex, Politics & Culture (1991).
Fritscher entered post-Stonewall gay publishing as founding San Francisco editor-in-chief of Drummer (March 1977-December 1979), San Francisco's longest-running magazine (1975–1999). [citation needed]He was one of only two editors-in-chief in Drummer history.[citation needed] Fritscher was the magazine's most frequent contributor as editor, writer, and photographer through all three publishers, emerging as historian of the institutional memory of Drummer.[citation needed] While at Drummer, Fritscher introduced into gay media such artists as Robert Mapplethorpe and David Hurles (Old Reliable), and showcased talents such as Robert Opel, Arthur Tress, Samuel Steward (Phil Andros), Larry Townsend, John Preston, Wakefield Poole, Rex, and A. Jay.[citation needed]
As an analyst and framer of gay linguistics in the first post-Stonewall decade when gay journalists were inventing new words for the emerging gay culture, Fritscher coined the gay-identity word homomasculinity, as well as redefining S&M as "Sensuality and Mutuality" (1974).[10] As such, he self-described as homomasculinist, which falls within the larger group of masculinist men.[11] Documenting on page and on screen the dawn of the "Daddy" and "Bear" movements, Fritscher was the first writer and editor to feature "older men" (Drummer 24, September 1978) in the gay press.[citation needed]
Fritscher's eyewitness recollections and interviews of Drummer history was published in 2007 as GAY PIONEERS How Drummer Magazine Shaped Gay Popular Culture 1965-1999.[citation needed]
A selection of Fritscher's writing in Drummer was published in 2008 as Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer.[citation needed]
Genre publishing
After leaving Drummer, Fritscher published eight quarterly issues of the raunchy gay zineMan2Man between 1980 and 1981.[7] Primarily created on typewriter, under the slogans "What You're Looking For Is Looking for You" and "The Mag You Can Stick Your Nose In," issues ranged from 44 to 60 pages. Contents included uncensored and sometimes bizarre personal ads, readers' letters, artwork from Old Reliable, Rex, and others, interviews, pornographic fiction by Fritscher, ads by purveyors of erotic merchandise, and articles on such topics as "Clothes Harvesting" (stealing athletes' clothes from locker rooms), jockstraps, cigars, and other extreme fetishes. Mark Hemry is credited as publisher and graphic designer.[citation needed]
With California Action Guide, Fritscher became the first editor to refer to the gay "Bear" subculture on a magazine cover in November 1982.[12]
Fritscher contributed to the start-up of dozens of other emerging gay magazines as well as booking anthologies for new publishers such as Gay Sunshine Press and Bowling Green University Press.[citation needed]
Palm Drive Video
Together with producer Mark Hemry, Fritscher co-founded the pioneering Palm Drive Video in 1984, dedicated to homomasculine entertainment. Fritscher wrote, cast, and directed more than 150 fetish features for Palm Drive Video. The studio also produced documentary content of a wide range of street festivals and competitive events, including the first "Bear" contest (Pilsner Inn, February 1987).
The 2021 documentary film Raw! Uncut! Video! examines the output and influence of Fritscher and Hemry.[13]
Gay historian and cultural participant
As an eyewitness participant, Fritcher contributed an article on Chuck Arnett ("Artist Chuck Arnett: His Life/Our Times”), to editor Mark Thompson’s Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice.[citation needed] He was a frequent historical journalist for the Bay Area Reporter and Leather Times. In 1972, he was the first gay writer to unearth and interview Samuel Steward (Phil Andros); his Steward audiotapes were referenced in Justin Spring's biography of Steward, Secret Historian (2010). As a gay popular culture critic, Fritscher began collecting his extensive gay history archive in 1965.[citation needed]
Chris Nelson photographed Fritscher for Richard Bulger's original Bear magazine as well as for the photography book The Bear Cult, selected and introduced by Edward Lucie-Smith. As a writer and photographer, he contributed fiction and photographs for covers and interior layouts for Bear magazine and other Brush Creek Media magazines. He wrote the introduction to Les Wright's Bear Book II and contributed to Ron Suresha's Bears on Bears: Interviews & Discussions as well as to editor Mark Hemry's fiction anthology Tales of the Bear Cult. In addition to Chris Nelson, Fritscher has been photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, Daniel Nicoletta, Arthur Tress, David Hurles, David Sparrow, Robert Opel and his nephew Robert Oppel, and Jim Tushinski.[citation needed]
Personal life
Fritscher is married to Mark Hemry, founding owner of Palm Drive Publishing.[14] The couple met May 22, 1979, the night after the White Night riots under the marquee of the Castro Theatre.[14] Following a civil union in Vermont (July 12, 2000) and a Canadian marriage (August 19, 2003), they were married in California (June 20, 2008).[citation needed]
Fritscher was portrayed by actor Anthony Michael Lopez in the 2018 biopicMapplethorpe.[16]
Bibliography
Novels
Fritscher, Jack (2005). Some Dance To Remember: A Memoir-novel Of San Francisco, 1970-1982. New York City, New York: Harrington Park Press. ISBN1560233273.
Fritscher, Jack (2002). What They Did to the Kid: Confessions of an Altar Boy, A Tale of Priest Abuse. San Francisco, California: Palm Drive Publishing. ISBN1890834378.
Fritscher, Jack (1984). Leather Blues: The Adventures of Denny Sargent, a Novel. San Francisco, California: Gay Sunshine Press. ISBN0917342496.
Fritscher, Jack (1998). The Geography of Women: A Romantic Comedy. San Francisco, California: Palm Drive Publishing. ISBN1890834254.
Fritscher, Jack (2012). Titanic: The Untold Tale of Gay Passengers and Crew. San Francisco, California: Palm Drive Publishing. ISBN978-1890834081.
Fritscher, John (1967). When Malory Met Arthur: Love and Death in Camelot (Doctoral Textual Qualification). Chicago, IL: Loyola University Library.
Anthology contributions
Labonte, Richard (2010). Muscle Men: Rock Hard Gay Erotica (short story collection). Cleis Press. ISBN978157344392-0.
Leyland, Winston (1991). Gay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine, An Anthology of Gay History, Sex, Politics, and Culture. San Francisco, California: Gay Sunshine Press. ISBN978-0940567122.
2020 – National Leather Association International: Cynthia Slater Non-Fiction Article Award for "Thom Gunn (1929-2004)"[18]
2020 – National Leather Association International: Lifetime Achievement Award[19]
2018 - National Leather Association International: Geoff Mains Nonfiction Book Award for Gay Pioneers: How Drummer Magazine Shaped Gay Popular Culture 1965-1999[20]
2016 - National Leather Association International: Cynthia Slater Non-Fiction Article Award (award shared with Jaco Lourens) for “Conversations With Leather”[18][21]
2014 - Pantheon of Leather Awards: Mr. Marcus Hernandez Lifetime Achievement Award (Man)[22]
2010 - Pantheon of Leather Awards: Northern California Regional Award[23]
2009 – National Leather Association International: Geoff Mains Non-Fiction Best Book Award for Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer Vol. 1[24]
2009 – National Leather Association International: Cynthia Slater Non-Fiction Feature Article Award for "Spill a Drop for Lost Brothers: An Obituary for Larry Townsend"[21]
In gay culture, a bear is a larger and often hairier man who projects an image of rugged masculinity.
Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures. Many participants associate leather culture with BDSM practices and its many subcultures. For some, black leather clothing is an erotic fashion that expresses heightened masculinity or the appropriation of sexual power; love of motorcycles, motorcycle clubs and independence; and/or engagement in sexual kink or leather fetishism.
Robert Michael Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, best known for his black-and-white photographs. His work featured an array of subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images. His most controversial works documented and examined the gay male BDSM subculture of New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A 1989 exhibition of Mapplethorpe's work, titled Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, sparked a debate in the United States concerning both use of public funds for "obscene" artwork and the Constitutional limits of free speech in the United States.
Patrick Califia is an American writer of non-fiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transitioning, Califia identified as a lesbian and wrote for many years a sex advice column for the gay men's leather magazine Drummer. His writings explore sexuality and gender identity, and have included lesbian erotica and works about BDSM subculture. Califia is a member of the third-wave feminism movement.
Robert Opel was an American photographer and art gallery owner most famous for streaking during the 46th Academy Awards in 1974.
Edmund Christian Nelson was an American photographer and co-founder of Bear Magazine in the 1980s, was the photographic pioneer in the gay-oriented erotic photography of mature men with hairy bodies and facial hair. His work directly led to the legitimizing of the bear community as a social group.
BEAR Magazine is a periodical geared toward gay and bisexual men who are or admire "bears", stocky or heavyset men with facial and/or body hair. It was initially published in San Francisco, California, in 1987 by Richard Bulger and his partner Chris Nelson and marketed to the bear community within the larger LGBT community.
William Ward (1927–1996) was a British erotic artist. He is best known for his strips featuring bear-like men and in particular his Adventures of Drum series for Drummer magazine.
Larry Townsend was the American author of dozens of books including Run, Little Leather Boy (1970) and The Leatherman's Handbook (1972), published by pioneer erotic presses such as Greenleaf Classics and the Other Traveler imprint of Olympia Press. Leatherman's Handbook, with illustrations by Sean, was among the first books to popularize BDSM among the general public.
Timothy Patrick Barrus, also known as Tim Barrus, is an American author and social worker who is best known for having published three "memoirs" between 2000 and 2004 under the pseudonym Nasdijj, by which he presented himself as a Navajo. The books were critically acclaimed, and Nasdijj received several literary awards and recognition from major institutions. His "memoirs" dealt in part with issues of two adopted children who suffered from severe problems.
The Rainbow Motorcycle Club is a gay men's motorcycle club based in San Francisco, California. The club was founded in San Francisco in 1971 by Ron Johnson, Mario Pirami and Paul Denino. Some commentators have credited the RMC as being instrumental in the creation of the bear subculture among gay men during the 1980s and 1990s.
The National Socialist League (NSL) was a neo-Nazi organization of gay men in the United States that existed from 1974 until 1984. It was originally founded by Jim Cherry, but was quickly taken over by Russell Veh, a neo-Nazi and transplant to Los Angeles, California, from Ohio. Veh financed the party using the profits from his printing business. He also financed the league with a film distribution unit that specialized in Nazi propaganda films, including Triumph of the Will. The National Socialist League had chapters in various parts of California, and implied in their mass mailing on July 4, 1978, that they had established an offshoot organization in Manhattan.
Christian Duffy, also known as Chris Duffy was an American professional bodybuilder, who also worked as a gay porn actor in the gay pornography film industry under the pseudonym Bull Stanton.
Guy Baldwin, M.S. is a Los Angeles–based psychotherapist, author, activist, and educator specializing in issues of particular relevance to the BDSM and leather communities. He maintains that inclusion of non-injurious elements of sadomasochism in a consenting sexuality does not itself indicate or confirm mental illness or psycho-sexual dysfunction.
Drummer is an American magazine which focuses on "leathersex, leatherwear, leather and rubber gear, S&M, bondage and discipline, erotic styles and techniques." The magazine was launched in 1975 and ceased publication in April 1999 with issue 214, but was relaunched 20 years later by new publisher Jack MacCullum with editor Mike Miksche.
David Randolph Hurles was an American gay pornographer, whose one-man company, run from a private mailbox, was called Old Reliable Tape and Picture Company. His work, produced primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, falls into three categories: photographs, audio tapes, and videotapes. Hurles' models were typically ex-convicts, hustlers, drifters, and ne'er do wells. Hurles died on April 12, 2023, at the age of 78.
The Mineshaft was a members-only BDSM gay leather bar and sex club located at 835 Washington Street, at Little West 12th Street, in Manhattan, New York City, in the Meatpacking District, West Village, and Greenwich Village sections.
REX is an American artist and illustrator closely associated with gay fetish art of 1970s and 1980s New York and San Francisco. He avoids photographs and does not discuss his personal life. His drawings influenced gay culture through graphics made for nightclubs including the Mineshaft and his influence on artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe. Much censored, he has remained a shadowy figure saying that his drawings "defined who I became" and that there are "no other 'truths' out there".
Tony DeBlase (1942–2000), also known as Anthony DeBlase, was part of the BDSM and leather subcultures. He was the designer of the leather pride flag.
Cynthia Slater (1945–1989) was the cofounder of the second BDSM organization founded in the United States, a San Francisco, California based BDSM education and support group known as the Society of Janus, which she founded with Larry Olsen in August 1974. According to the Leather Hall of Fame biography of Slater, she said of the Society of Janus,
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