A Tribute to Leather

From uniforms to dungeons, from ruthless tops to hapless bottoms, from the LA scene to the classical music scene, Larry Townsend covered it all, if indeed he didn't start it all. This book is homage to Mr. Townsend and his memory. He was a pioneer in the early writings of BDSM and Leather Culture. Larry Townsend was best known as the author of "The Leatherman's Handbook" and "The Leatherman's Handbook 2. The original was published in 1972 by Olympia Press. "The Leatherman's Handbook 2 was published ten years later by Carlyle Communications. Over the subsequent years Larry wrote over forty books (novels and anthologies.) In the early seventies Mr. Townsend established his own small press, L.T. Publications and under this imprint published seventy-four large format books. These books contained his own stories and those of other talented writers, including: Victor Terry, Macbeth and other well-known authors who wrote for these collections under pseudonyms. Although most of Larry's books were leather S/M themed, he also wrote a number of science fiction stories and historical pieces. His work appeared in advice columns in the magazines "Honcho" and "Bound and Gagged." Aside from his work as a writer, Larry was also a well-known activist in the gay movement during the seventies and early eighties. He served as president of H.E.L.P., Inc. and was founding president of The Hollywood Hills Democratic Club, the first gay oriented CDC club in Los Angeles County. He served on the board of The Whitman Radclyffe Foundation during a time when the gay movement within California was making its first attempts to produce a united political and philosophical front. Mr. Townsend also contributed political articles for the old "Advocate" and "California Scene." As his publishing activities became more time-consuming, Larry was forced to withdraw from his most demanding liberation activities, but by that time many new faces were emerging to replace the original leaders. This book is dedicated to the memory of "Larry Townsend", October 27th, 1930- July 29th, 2008, a true Leatherman, Pioneer and Outstanding Author of intense Leather tales...