Fred Yerkes & Larry Townsend

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Larry Townsend (27 October 1930 - 29 July 2008) was the pseudonymous author (né 'Bud' Bernhardt) of dozens of books including Run Little Leather Boy (1970) and The Leatherman's Handbook (1972) at pioneer erotic presses such as Greenleaf Classics and the Other Traveler imprint of Olympia Press. His partner of 44 years, Fred Yerkes, passed on July 8, 2006: "Behind every author, if that author is lucky, there is a lover-partner who is a producer who keeps the author up and running. Fred Yerkes, who was all that, died suddenly in July 2006. Larry survived him by two years. Privately, they were one of those legendary couples who cannot live one without the other."

Growing up as a teenager of Swiss-German extraction in Los Angeles a few houses from Noel Coward and Irene Dunne, he ate cookies with his neighbor Laura Hope Crews who was Aunt Pittypat in Gone with the Wind. He attended the prestigious Peddie School, and was stationed as Staff Sergeant in charge of NCOIC Operations of Air Intelligence Squadrons for nearly five years with the US Air Force in Germany (1950—1954). Completing his tour of duty, he entered into the 1950s underground of the then small LA leather scene where he and Montgomery Clift shared a lover. With his degree in industrial psychology from UCLA (1957), he worked in the private sector and as a probation officer with the Forestry Service. He began his pioneering activism in the politics of homophile liberation in the early 1960s. In 1972, as president of the 'Homophile Effort for Legal Protection' which had been founded in 1969 to defend gays during and after arrests, he led a group in founding the H.E.L.P. Newsletter, the forebear of Drummer magazine (1975). He lived in the hills above the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, overlooking West Hollywood. As a writer and photographer, he was an essential eyewitness of the drama and salon around Drummer in which his novels were often excerpted. His signature "Leather Notebook" column appeared in Drummer for twelve years beginning in 1980, and continued in Honcho to Spring 2008. His last novel, TimeMasters, was published April 2008. His last writing was Who Lit up the Lit of the Golden Age of Drummer an introduction to Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer (June 2008).


Courtesy of Jack Fritscher. Larry Townsend & Fred Yerkes (©15)
Larry Townsend was the pseudonymous author of dozens of books including The Leatherman's Handbook (1972) at pioneer erotic presses. "Behind every author, if that author is lucky, there is a lover-partner who is a producer who keeps the author up and running. Fred Yerkes (his partner of 44 years), who was all that, died suddenly in July 2006. Larry survived him by two years. Privately, they were one of those legendary couples who cannot live one without the other." (by and © JackFritscher.com)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Townsend

Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle
Paperback: 760 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (July 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1500563323
ISBN-13: 978-1500563325
CreateSpace Store: https://www.createspace.com/4910282
Amazon (Paperback): http://www.amazon.com/dp/1500563323/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MZG0VHY/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Days of Love chronicles more than 700 LGBT couples throughout history, spanning 2000 years from Alexander the Great to the most recent winner of a Lambda Literary Award. Many of the contemporary couples share their stories on how they met and fell in love, as well as photos from when they married or of their families. Included are professional portraits by Robert Giard and Stathis Orphanos, paintings by John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, and photographs by Frances Benjamin Johnson, Arnold Genthe, and Carl Van Vechten among others. “It's wonderful. Laying it out chronologically is inspired, offering a solid GLBT history. I kept learning things. I love the decision to include couples broken by death. It makes clear how important love is, as well as showing what people have been through. The layout and photos look terrific.” Christopher Bram “I couldn’t resist clicking through every page. I never realized the scope of the book would cover centuries! I know that it will be hugely validating to young, newly-emerging LGBT kids and be reassured that they really can have a secure, respected place in the world as their futures unfold.” Howard Cruse “This international history-and-photo book, featuring 100s of detailed bios of some of the most forward-moving gay persons in history, is sure to be one of those bestsellers that gay folk will enjoy for years to come as reference and research that is filled with facts and fun.” Jack Fritscher

Comments

Re: Larry Townsend

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Actually I did wonder the same about the re-release, but I noticed some books are not re-released, TeddyPig has posted about it recently.

Re: Larry Townsend

[a-b-gayle.livejournal.com]

Speaking of re-releases, I think some of the books that got published about ten years ago are languishing in Never Never and.
You could also check out David Stein's books if you're interested in Leather, although they are pretty "gritty" and not for the faint hearted.
David was involved in the movement that formulated the concept "Safe, Sane and Consensual".
He's recently started up his own press, but his classic Slave/master tale "Carried Away" is still available on Kindle.
Another writer from the past you may be interested in is Dirk Vanden whose book "Leather" originally published in the late seventies has been re-released by loveyoudivine Alterotica as "Down the Rabbit Hole". http://www.amazon.com/Down-Rabbit-Hole-Dirk-Vanden/dp/1600546242/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311930303&sr=1-3

Re: Larry Townsend

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Lee Benoit included david stein in her list:

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/907430.html

so I knew about him. I will check Dirk Vanden, thank you.