Steam

[bigguyinpasadena]

Do any of you remember a magazine called Steam?It was put out by Scott O'Hara(RIP)about 10 years ago and was IMO agreat blend of raunch,travellog,and queer politx.

I was fortunate to meet Scott a few times in SF(he was a model of my dream man-short,tight,big dick,red hair(sometimes)and really bright,funny,and a little wild)And admired him for putting this 'zine together.

Are there any websites,b'logs,ezines,or printed 'zines that are comparable to Steam?

I visit cruisingforsex.com,but it is run by a f'd-up "neocon"and thus I do not read any of his commentary.

Anyone have sites like this on their fav's list.

[Rod Hagen]

Big, funny you mention this. I've been searching for a well-done, regularly-published, gay erotic zine of some sort for some time. I stumbled on an ad for the Masquerade Books Newsletter in the back of one of John Preston's book, but I was disappointed to find that Masquerade is done.

 

Haven't heard of Steam, but I like Scott's stuff, his tastes. I guess you and I may have to help each other find old copies of each.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Chap Books

 

In the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s, there was - at the same time Queer Nation and ACT UP reached their zenith - a collection of small print, occassionally literary, often political, rant-like publications often called 'zines. These were meant to be very personal and often very much reflected the personality and temperment of the person(s) behind them.

 

Tower Records still sells them (as they always did) but these by and large are music oriented, not literary nor even guided by sexual orientation. A Different Light used to be a place to find such publications but it does not exist anymore. You would need to go to establishments that specialized in small print runs, chap books, etc. One such place used to be St. Mark's Book in New York City. The one business that specialized in small press publication in Los Angeles has not been in business for some time.

 

As for "e-zines" or "blogs," you are more likely to find material such as that; Damian Ford and Matt Sizemore both write regular, lengthy journals on their web site, but these very much reflect their personalitys and what is happening in their personal life more than anything else. Other adult industry performers also have these and they are often only as well-written as the person who writes them. Drew Warner's can be more sexually oriented. Besides Devon, there are approximately seven or eight other escorts who do journals, some daily, some merely frequently. Some of these are very sexual and some are not at all. In addition, you will find that men who are not (and never were either escorts or adult film performers like Mr. Ohara was) also write on-line publications. You just have to find them.

 

Personally, I know of no such on-line publication akin to Steam although there are some which politically are similar.

[Guest Yog-Sothoth]

>Big, funny you mention this. I've been searching for a

>well-done, regularly-published, gay erotic zine of some sort

>for some time. I stumbled on an ad for the Masquerade Books

>Newsletter in the back of one of John Preston's book, but I

>was disappointed to find that Masquerade is done.

>Haven't heard of Steam, but I like Scott's stuff, his tastes.

>I guess you and I may have to help each other find old copies

>of each.

 

 

If it is of interest to anyone, Scott O'Hara's and John Preston's personal and publishing papers are kept for research at the John Hay Library of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

[+ Hoover42]

>Big, funny you mention this. I've been searching for a

>well-done, regularly-published, gay erotic zine of some sort

>for some time. I stumbled on an ad for the Masquerade Books

>Newsletter in the back of one of John Preston's book, but I

>was disappointed to find that Masquerade is done.

>

>Haven't heard of Steam, but I like Scott's stuff, his tastes.

>I guess you and I may have to help each other find old copies

>of each.

 

I have a small collection of Steam around here somewhere. If anyone is interested in buying any of the issues, please let me know, and I'll start digging!

[bigguyinpasadena]

Hmmm,I would never think that Providence would be home to a library that would be interested in housing these papers.Not to appear provincial-I have just not heard of the collection.What is it's history? I know P'town is famous for its' thriving gay scene( I have not been there-but The Ventura Vixen visits often)Maybe I should visit.

[guyinsf]

I believe I read this comment from Scott O'Hara in Steam, but it may have been somewhere else. It really changed my point of view about him. In a nutshell he said that he didn't understand why hiv negative gay men were concerned about remaining uninfected, that gay men should all just allow ourselves to become hiv positive. I wish I could provide an exact quote, but his point of view was so sick that it's stuck in my mind forever.

[bigguyinpasadena]

If you could find this"quote"from a published source that would be one thing,,,but to come out with this with out back up is just wrong.

Scott did have some very radical views-but I know that he was very up front with his HIV status-to the extreme point that he had a large red tatoo "HIH +" on his arm.He verbally told his partners about this(unlike Andrew Sullivan-a neo con brown noser who was discovered skulking about a M4M site looking for barebacker-and not disclosing his HIV status-positive)And if they still wanted to play-well they were informed adults-let them make there own decissions.

I play with lots of positive guys.In fact,I always assune the person I am having sex with IS positive and act accordingly.And yes,I did play with Scott when I knew he was Positive(in fact he was not in the best shape the last time we had sex)I just chose our games with some care and I took precautions.

Taking responsibility for MY OWN actions when it comes to sex has kept me healthy through the "plague years" and into the present.

[Guest Yog-Sothoth]

>Hmmm,I would never think that Providence would be home to a

>library that would be interested in housing these papers.Not

>to appear provincial-I have just not heard of the

>collection.What is it's history? I know P'town is famous for

>its' thriving gay scene( I have not been there-but The Ventura

>Vixen visits often)Maybe I should visit.

 

 

I am not sure of the exact details, but it seems some years ago someone left the Hay Library a HUGE collection of gay male erotica. They accept it (as I said I don't know details) but this lead to them being know for taking such materials. With Preston or O'Hara, I don't recalled who died first, but this lead to the other one deciding to give his papers (and other items) to the Hay Library.

 

These things tend to snowball. Once a certain type of material gets in a library's collection, the librarians start looking to add to it and other folks hear they are looking for it and donate and it just builds upon itself.

 

Providence and Rhode Island are very liberal. The city has (had?) a gay mayor and the state has been very forward in the laws they have passed protecting LGBT rights.

 

Providence is becoming a major 2nd-line city. After Boston, Providence has the most to offer for visitors and businesses and such who want to visit a large city in New England.

 

And the area all around Brown University is just beautiful.

[Guest Les]

Hey There Big Guy!:7

I love Steam too! Maybe you'll like this link!

 

http://www.scottohara.com/steam.htm

[Guest Les]

OOPS:

http://www.scottohara.com/scott.htm