John Joseph Fritscher, also known as Jack Fritscher [Edit]
John Joseph Fritscher, also known as Jack Fritscher (born 1939) is an American author and the former editor-in-chief of the gay male leather magazine Drummer.
Notable Leather-Related Writing
His first gay novel was I Am Curious (Leather), also known as Leather Blues (1969). His short-story collection Corporal in Charge of Taking Care of Captain O’Malley (Gay Sunshine Press, 1984) was the first collection of leather fiction, and the first collection of fiction from Drummer magazine, as well as the only play published by editor Winston Leyland in the Lambda Literary Award winner Gay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine – An Anthology of Gay History, Sex, Politics & Culture (1991). Fritscher also contributed an article on Chuck Arnett (“Artist Chuck Arnett: His Life/Our Times”) to editor Mark Thompson’s book Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice (1991). In 2007 Fritscher’s eyewitness recollections and interviews of the history of Drummer (a leather magazine) were published as GAY PIONEERS How Drummer Magazine Shaped Gay Popular Culture 1965-1999. In 2008 a selection of Fritscher’s writing in Drummer was published as Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer.
He was also a frequent historical journalist for Leather Times.
As Editor-in-Chief
Fritscher was the editor-in-chief of the gay male leather magazine Drummer from March 1977 to December 1979. As such he (among other things) profiled Robert Mapplethorpe and gave him his first magazine cover (Drummer issue 24, September 1978).
Other
In 1975, Fritscher sponsored Jim Stewart‘s move to San Francisco.
Awards
- 2009 – National Leather Association – International: Cynthia Slater Nonfiction Article Award for “Spill a Drop for Lost Brothers: the Legendary Larry Townsend“
- 2009 – National Leather Association – International: Geoff Mains Non-Fiction Book Award for Gay San Francisco: Eyewitness Drummer
- 2010 – Pantheon of Leather Awards: Northern California Regional Award
- 2014 – Pantheon of Leather Awards: Mr. Marcus Hernandez Lifetime Achievement Award (Man)
- 2016 – National Leather Association – International: Cynthia Slater Nonfiction Article Award (award shared with Jaco Lourens) for “Conversations With Leather”
- 2018 – National Leather Association – International: Geoff Mains Non-Fiction Book Award for Gay Pioneers: How Drummer Magazine Shaped Gay Popular Culture 1965-1999
- 2020 – National Leather Association – International: Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2020 – National Leather Association – International: Cynthia Slater Nonfiction Article Award for “Thom Gunn (1929-2004)”
- 2020 – National Leather Association – International: Samois Anthology Award for Mapplethorpe Movie
Personal Life
Fritscher is married to Mark Hemry, founding owner of Palm Drive Publishing.
Fritscher’s previous significant life partners were David Sparrow and Robert Mapplethorpe.