Rudolph Valentino's pubic hair! Thornton Wilder! One-eyed sadist!

Submitted by toddshui on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 07:56

The Secret Historian

The New York times offers a fun preview of The Secret Historian, Justin Spring's new biography of Sam Steward.  Steward played an important role in the history of gay porn for the erotic writing he did under the name Phil Andros (the Andros novel My Brother, My Self is being reissued next month.) Steward didn't just write porn: he was also a tattoo artist and an unofficial collaborator with Alfred Kinsey.

 My Brother, My Self

He also kept a lot of stuff, which means he provided his biographer with an almost precedented collection of primary sources on gay history.  When Spring found his papers:

 he was taken unawares by the 80 boxes full of drawings, letters, photographs, sexual paraphernalia, manuscripts and other items, including an autograph and reliquary with pubic hair from Rudolph Valentino, a thousand-page confessional journal Steward created at the request of the sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, and a green metal card catalog labeled “Stud File,” which contained a meticulously documented record on index cards of every sexual experience and partner — Rock Hudson,Thornton Wilder, "One-eyed Sadist” — that Steward said he had had over 50 years.

 

 Spring has also edited a new collection of Steward's writing called Notes from the Sexual Underground, 1935-1975.For those who are interested in what gay life was really like before being out was option, all of these titles should be worth checking out.

Notes from the Sexual Underground, 1935-1975