The Life and Times of the Legendary Larry Townsend - by Jack Fritscher (Paperback)
Similar Products
Products of same category from the store
All
Product info
<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br><p>Eyewitness friends chart Hollywood rise/fall of influencer-novelist Larry Townsend whose <em>Leatherman's Handbook</em> was a founding text for thousands of men using S&M as empowering therapy against PTSD from lifelong homophobia.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>A lively memoir of West Hollywood author-activist-influencer Larry Townsend whose signature <em>Leatherman's Handbook</em> was a founding text for gay men worldwide in the 20th century. Celebrating Townsend's 90th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his <em>Handbook</em>, this homage to Townsend written by his close friend of 40 years is vivid as a screenplay. Like a biographical film comedy sauced with honest realism, it stars the best-selling author of nearly 80 books who, long before the glitter bomb of Stonewall, helped found the new world of gay publishing, politics, and popular culture.</p><p> The propulsive text, based on the testimony of intimate friends, especially his "Leather Wife" Jeanne Barney, reveals the rise and fall of the private man in all his unvarnished glory struggling behind his public persona even as he fights for the rights of other independent authors, and ends his life in a huge scandal of self-defense, suing floundering gay bookstores to protect his copyrights. </p><p> The illustrated memoir offers readers unfamiliar with Townsend's leather milieu a charming and intimate profile of the author as a psychologist, author, and healing mentor whose <em>Handbook </em>was such a years-long bestseller that he literally educated American and international gay popular culture about the nature of leather people, principles, and practice. In Europe in 1977, <em>Der Spiegel</em> reported that in the world scene of leathermen, "<em>The Leatherman's Handbook</em> by a certain Larry Townsend is considered their Bible." He was an entertaining teacher who was not didactic, prescriptive, or old guard. His writing was a declaration of gay diversity. He challenged politically-correct mainstream censors condemning as pornography the consensual sadomasochism he championed as a kind of empowering analgesic ritual for men trying to cope counterphobically with PTSD caused by exposure to lifelong homophobia. </p><p> This memoir unwrapping gay history spotlights the operatic Townsend, founding president of the Hollywood Hills Democratic Club, through revealing quotes from his own writing. It breaks down the barriers between so-called "low" and "high" culture and focuses on filling in the gaps that a neglect of gay popular culture by the politically-correct gay establishment has made in our understanding of the workings of broadband gay society.</p><p> What Townsend wrote in 1972 describing his own <em>Handbook </em>applies to Fritscher's 2021 handbook about Townsend: "...a definitive exploration of the gay S&M leather scene...written by a qualified writer who has observed it all from the inside." Jack Fritscher, PhD, qualified as a founding member of the American Popular Culture Association in 1968, is the 1970s editor-in-chief of <em>Drummer </em>who invited Townsend to write for that magazine for twelve years. Fritscher, who stayed true to his friend to the scandalous end, is the perfect eyewitness in this candid documentary memoir of gay history. A fascinating, witty, and wise story of leather lives well lived from the 1950s to 2008. </p><p><br></p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"Larry Townsend's <em>The Leatherman's Handbook</em>, a unique amalgam of research, erotica and advice, was something of a founding text for the gay SM and Leather subculture of the late 20th century. Jack Fritscher's memoir of Townsend, and his pioneering social circle, is a wide-ranging, anecdotal insider's look at the West Coast Gay Lib and Leather scenes from the 1970s to 2008. Larry Townsend-author, researcher, advice columnist, and political activist-has been something of an unknown quantity in LGBT writing to date. Not any more! Jack Fritscher knew the old Master for many years. He has served him well!"</p><p>-Ian Young, author, <em>The Male Homosexual in Literature and Encounters with Authors: Essays on Scott Symons, Robin Hardy, and Norman Elder</em></p><p><br></p><p><em>The Leatherman's Handboo</em>k remains a legacy guide for young S&M leatherfolk wanting to learn the way we were. Larry Townsend, who fought to protect the rights of authors and artists, was one of the most ethical and honest people I have had the pleasure of knowing. This is the Hollywood story of how he lived and how he died on Sunset Plaza Drive, five minutes from Sunset Boulevard.</p><p>-Durk Dehner, co-founder, Tom of Finland Foundation</p><p><br></p><p>In this lively memoir of writer, photographer, and pleasure activist, Larry Townsend, Jack Fritscher elevates this biography of his longtime friend by blending memories, anecdotes, and Townsend's work at <em>Drummer </em>for an expansive view of the man, his times, his frustrations, and his impact on his community. Fritscher celebrates this key figure in the leather/kink world not by putting him on a pedestal, but by capturing him in all his full unvarnished glory, and in doing so makes a significant contribution to an often-overlooked chapter of LGBTQ history.</p><p>-Owen Keehnen, author, <em>Leatherman: The Legend of Chuck Renslow</em></p><br>
Price History
Price Archive shows prices from various stores, lets you see history and find the cheapest. There is no actual sale on the website. For all support, inquiry and suggestion messagescommunication@pricearchive.us