New Horizons For Fifty - A Different View of Things

(Davids' Place Coffeehouse, a staple of Hillcrest for many years) I wrote this article in 1994, when I was named as Assistant Editor to the newsletter for Being Alive San Diego, an HIV/AIDS advocacy and service organization that started in the 80s with an office on Park Blvd. in San Diego. I'm publishing it here as is because of "sudden" content that has surfaced regarding Democratic Candidate for President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s stance on vaccines and the cause of AIDS. I put "sudden" in quotes because I only just found out about it, but apparently, he's been on the denialist bandwagon for many years, and spent the better part of yesterday disgusted by what I learned." I was 25 at the time I wrote the article and my views reflected the world through the eyes of someone as young, but the main points still apply.  It's a crying shame that it's 2023 and we still have to be at work debunking misinformation of this magnitude. "Togeth

This is the second part of the innerview that Liam did with me a couple weeks ago. The words that follow have even more resonance than when I first answered them.         What inspired you to become a bigger part of this community?      I started going to more Bear events (den parties and dinner nights), but the Leather side was more latent, mostly relegated to sex (that would change), while being a Bear spoke more to both my physical side  and personality. I have always identified as a Leatherbear, because I came into both communities within six months of each other. Bears San Diego was having their New Years party, this year at the club President's house. That night changed my life, because I met the man who would collar me and who I would call Daddy, but I'll save the details of that for a later next interview. Over the next year, through his mentorship, I became a member-at-large in Bears San Diego and then Vice President of San Diego League of Gentlemen (their first electe

  Innerview With A Bear. (Questions by Liam Troy, answers by Eric Crow)      Disclaimer: I speak for no one else's perspective but my own. Other people will have difference views of the same subject, and I always want to hear from them.      Not too long ago, I was chatting with Liam Troy, one of the more active members of Cubs Club of California. He competed for Mr. Bear LA last September, and I was taken by him and impressed with his energy and presence. We were talking about Bear community history, and he expressed frustration at not having much information about our history. Later that week, I posed a question on the Cubs Club FB group page, asking people how much Bear community history they knew, and the majority of people who answered chose the “just a few things” option. This concerned and frustrated me. It concerned me because our community has a rich, dynamic history, and our methods and reasons for doing things serve very specific purpose, and those things are not being p

I’ve climbed the highest mountain of my life.  There are other mountains to climb, but none will be as significant as this one I say that now, but I’m also ready to receive new experiences that will be higher and better than IML. I’m just very curious what it would take to top IML (LOLOL, yes, take this how you want) I’m at the point where I can say that I’m getting on in years and that my life is running its course. I have no idea when I will have finished the race, but I sense that this won’t be for many years. I have been known for saying I will outlive you all, but that’s not so important to me any more. But that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to live my life to the fullest. You might think “Why’s he writing about this? He’s in the prime of his life.” I don’t know why I felt the urge to write this, but I did write it for a reason. I will admit that I’m starting to wonder what I will do with all the time I have left.  I’m in a race with the weeds around me to make sure my garden st

  “Crystallized” is a collection of short stories, prose and poetry that celebrates the kinds of moments that etch themselves onto your mind or burn themselves into your memory. I release them to you as a celebration of my own 20+ year journey in the Leather and Bear community. This is a road I had to create to walk down, with plenty of unexpected turns and hard patches, but the road has been well worth the travel. Please help me in my bid for International Mr. Leather 2022 and purchase a copy—1 of 100 numbered copies. Pre-order your copy for $15 and help me on my road to IML! Thank you for your support!

On Happiness and Chosen Family - by Eric Crow      1999 was the first year I was on my own for the holidays. Both my parents died the year before, and I lost touch with the rest of my biological family for a number of years. When losing parents or a spouse or children, the first year is indeed the toughest, and I remember waiting at a bus stop on the way home, fighting to contain my tears (thank God for my love of Celtic music) around the one-year mark of Mom’s passing. In 2007. I’d written to my sister, Gwen, at the last address I had on file, but when I didn’t hear back, I figured she moved and gave it up to “the fates” to decide if we would see each other. Then in 2009, on a whim, I wrote a letter to my Aunt Violet (strangely, I remembered her mailing address even though I hadn’t been to her house in 30 years), asking if she had any information and within a day, I got an email from her. I was super-glad for obvious reasons and we got together a couple times over the next few months