I also discovered that, not only did I enjoy writing, I had a genuine flair for it. After graduating from Palmyra High School in 1978, I was off to College and my first tastes of radio at WQSU, The Voice Of Susquehanna University. Then off to way too many stations and addresses, along with such weirdness as dressing up as a clown for a summer at Hersheypark, doing stand-up comedy, and singing in a punk rock band. By my calculations, 23 addresses in over 20 years.

I settled for WAFL, Milford, DE, before the high politics and low pay made me give up on radio in 1991. Billboard Magazine, while at that particular gig, twice nominated me for excellence in small market radio. By then I'd also sold my first magazine articles and decided there was no looking back. I was also fortunate enough to meet some of my rock idols during those days. The only times in his life I ever felt my knees go weak has been shaking hands with Paul McCartney and meeting Elvis Costello, whom I regard as our greatest living songwriter. If you bumped into me during these decades it was likely at a radio function or a broadcast seminar!

In 1989, I stumbled across my first copy of DRUMMER magazine in San Francisco at a Radio Broadcasting convention. Having my mind blown open by the experience, I took a writing/editing job in Los Angeles, a city where I could explore this part of my psyche further and pursue a new career as a broadcast journalist. I met my mentor, the late Paul “Papa Bear” Sehm (author of the Leather Journal column Rope Rap, and to whom the book Sgt Vlengles’ Revenge is dedicated) when I moved to LA, and he, in turn, introduced me to many gentlemen in Los Angeles. These included such great men as Wayne Griffin, who employed me at his “Wayne’s Leatherrack” store in the LA Faultline Bar, and my first Master, Gary “Skinner Jack” Taylor. I came out full bore as a Gay Leatherman in the pages of the Oct 11, 1993 edition of the magazine I edited at the time, The MAC Report (Nashville TN). The MAC died in 1994, and it was back to LA, where I got a second wind as a writer and editor. This was when I met my partner for the next four years, Peter “Rubber Bear” Tolos. My byline has appeared in magazines as varied Radio & Records, Fetish, Leather Journal, Eagle, Cuir, Frontiers, Bunkhouse, Mach, Powerplay and my own two major magazines, the ground breaking Rubber Rebel and Vulcan America, which Peter and I worked on together until his passing in February of 1999. I was the editor and principal writer/photographer for Vulcan-America.com, which provided "Rubbermen, Macho Fetish and Fantasy" online from 1999 till 2004. 

I also participated in all sorts of other exploits, including the infamous Rubber Buddha episode of HBO's SEXBYTES series. If you met me during this period, it was likely at a leather event with the Louisville Nightwings, or at the Chain Drive Bar in Austin Texas, (the city I spent most of 1997 torturing the nation one phone call at a time as a long-distance telephone service telemarketer), or at events such as IML, or the Cell Block Chicago's ongoing Mr. International Rubber competitions where I have frequently been invited to act as a judge, as well as the recently founded Mr. East Coast Rubber in NYC. I've also appeared as Brutux Kahn in the Zeus/Can-Am production Brutal Kombat (available from TLAvideo through this link).

   In December 1999, I relocated to Louisville, KY to be with my good friend Ron, but as fate would have it, the relationship did not last. So now I am back to Philadelphia, PA! Who'd ever thought that, after all this time, I'd get so close to home again? I met a wonderful Papa Bear at MAL in 2002, and by the end of the year, Papa Joel and I decided we'd try a relationship. He collared me in October 2002, and it's been an adventure ever since. Papa Joel and I now live in Philadelphia with our house Diva, Sophie, an affectionate Tabby Cat. 

Photo by Mark I. Chester: Visit his site