
Fritscher, Jack. “The Life and Times of the Legendary Larry Townsend”, Palm Drive Publishing, 2021.
Remembering Larry Townsend
Amos Lassen
It has been fifty years since Larry Townsend published “The Leatherman’s Handbook” that became a text that showed us how to use S&M as empowering therapy against PTSD. Now Jack Fritscher has written a tribute to the man who changed the lives of many. Townsend was an activist who dared to put on paper a lifestyle that was different and in doing so, he also acted against the homophobia of the times. Before Stonewall, Townsend wrote 80 books and helped to bring about gay publishing as he wrote about our culture and politics. He created a persona while living a private life and was able to lead the battle for other writers as he rallied against the censorship that saw consensual sadomasochism as pornography and he took on a way to deal PTSD that homophobia brought about. In his exploration of the gay leather scene from within, he opened the eyes of many. Since I am not a member of the leather or S&M scene, I knew little about it aside of what I have read het I must admit that Townsend’s “The Leatherman’s Handbook” has a special place in my library as part of our history. Fritscher’s book fills in the gaps and illuminates that history.
The importance of Townsend’s “Handbook” cannot be overstated. It has influenced and educated gay culture internationally and represents gay diversity. Fritscher shows us just how widespread that it influence was while at the same time giving us a look into the man himself. For Townsend to challenge censorship and mainstream life when he did was a major event and he offered ways to challenge homophobia which was raging when the book was published. What many do not realize is that there was a “politically-correct” gay establishment that attempted to dictate behavior and it was necessary to bring the leather aspect into that establishment. This is what Townsend did.
Fritscher is the perfect person to bring Townsend’s story to us. Not only were the two men close friends, they both worked to tear down the walls of constraint. I found myself turning pages as quickly as I could and I smiled and wept as I read. We take a trip back in time when gay life was very different than it is today. As we explore the gay S&M leather scene through Fritscher’s wonderful prose, we read a candid memoir of lives that are now gone but should never be forgotten.
Through memories, anecdotes, Townsend’s own writing and Fritscher’s explanations, we see the impact that Townsend had on our world. For those of you who do not know Fritscher, it is time to learn about him. He was the editor of “Drummer magazine” and is the author of twenty books and was a muse to Robert Mapplethorpe. Personally, I rank his importance to our community right up there next to Townsend and the other men who heralded a new age of gay life. Jack Fritscher knew Townsend for many years and we feel his love for the man on every page.
Over the years, Jack Fritscher and I have corresponded about our mutual interest for the late and great Tennessee Williams and I have treasured that. I am so glad that he is the one to bring Townsend back to us in a way that we feel that we have found a friend and a major influencer of how we live.