RIP Al Goldstein

[AdamSmith]

Al Goldstein dies at 77

By The Associated Press

December 19, 2013 - 09:42 am

NEW YORK (AP) - Al Goldstein, the bird-flipping publisher of Screw magazine who helped break down legal barriers against pornography and raged against politicians, organized religion and anything that even suggested good taste, died at a Brooklyn hospice Thursday after a long illness, according to a friend, attorney Charles C. DeStefano.

Al Goldstein, publisher of Screw magazine, dies in NYC after illness. AP Photo.

Of all the would-be successors to Hugh Hefner's sexual throne, no one was as out there as Goldstein. Whether taking potshots at sacred cows in the magazine's pages, or placing an 11-foot-tall sculpture of an extended middle finger outside his Florida home, his angry humor, garish attire, numerous divorces and X-rated mind made him an infamous national figure.

"To be angry is to be alive. I'm an angry Jew. I love it. Anger is better than love. I think it is more pure," he said in an interview in 2001. "There's so much to be angry about, because people are ripped off, the election went to the wrong person, the good guys usually lose and society sucks."

To back that anger, Goldstein put his wallet where his mouth was, spending millions of dollars on First Amendment lawsuits, hundreds of thousands running unsuccessfully for sheriff in Florida, and millions more in numerous divorce settlements.

DeStefano remembers Goldstein as an "intellectual who cared about the world and geopolitics." But after a lavish lifestyle, Goldstein fell on difficult times, landing in a homeless shelter and a veterans hospital.

"Up until a month ago he still had that spark," said DeStefano. "In fact, he gave me the middle finger. As he did it, he smiled at me. I knew he was still Al Goldstein inside this shell of a body. I kissed him and held his hand. Many of his friends were like his sons. He had tremendous respect for friendships."

When he co-founded Screw in 1968, the American legal system was embroiled in a battle over what constitutes obscenity. Goldstein never envisioned himself as a champion of free speech, but fought for what he said were his own prurient interests.

"Screw grew from a combination of many factors, chief of which was my own dissatisfaction with the sex literature of 1968 and my yearning for a publication that reflected my sexual appetites," he wrote in the 1971 Screw anthology.

But Goldstein also felt that the cultural and religious establishment had convinced his generation that sex was dirty and turned them into "a lot of embarrassed people who bought nudie magazines on the sly."

The porn magazine's scathing, scatological editorials railed against religious leaders and the government for justifying war while imprisoning erotic magazine publishers. Screw sold 140,000 copies a week at its height.

"I may be making a lot of money, but I really believe I'm doing some good by demythologizing a lot about sexuality," he told Playboy in 1974.

But the law was never far away. During the magazine's first three years, Goldstein was arrested 19 times on obscenity charges. Spending millions to defend himself, he ultimately scored a major victory in 1974 when a federal judge threw out an obscenity case brought against him.

After that the willingness of the government to prosecute such cases waned, ending a period that saw books such as D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover" and Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer" banned and kept erotic publications under the counter.

But the victory left Goldstein feeling flat.

"I really need the attention of being arrested, because that means I'm still bugging the establishment, that I'm still gadfly to the state," he told Playboy. "Acceptance of me and Screw would be the kiss of death."

And it may have been the magazine's undoing, as it was soon eclipsed by more explicit publications, like Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine. Goldstein soon found other outlets, and in 1974 launched a sex-oriented cable porn show, "Midnight Blue," which ran for nearly 30 years.

As the poignancy of Screw faded, Goldstein became depressed and angrier.

In 2002, he was sentenced after a wild trial to 60 days in jail for harassing a former secretary with threatening phone calls and editorials. The conviction was later overturned when an appeals court ruled prosecutors had used overly inflammatory language at trial. A year later Goldstein pleaded guilty to harassing one of his four ex-wives with obscene phone messages.

In late 2003, the magazine folded and Goldstein filed for bankruptcy protection. On the upside, he lost 150 pounds following stomach stapling surgery the same year and married his fifth wife, a woman 40 years his junior. Things fell so far, though, that in 2004 he told The New York Times he was forced, at times, to sleep in a car and live in a Florida homeless shelter.

"Anyone who wishes ill on me should feel vindicated because my life has turned into a total horror," he told the Times. He is survived by his wife, Christine, and a son, Jordan.

Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/12/al-goldstein-dies-at-77-98325.html#ixzz2nw5nDI4s

[MsGuy]

Around 1969 I read a sex ad in Screw's classified section that has stuck in my brain all these years.

"Multiple amputee seeks same for fun and games."

Al Goldstein scarred this innocent Southern boy for life.

[AdamSmith]

I didn't know that: "Apr 1969 Screw magazines runs a pictorial of two men engaged in sexual intercourse."

Al Goldstein

aka Alvin Goldstein

Founder of Screw magazine.

Try as you might, you will not find a speech, paragraph, or article declaring Al Goldstein a "nice guy". It's just not the way the man is wired. Every description of him makes it quite clear he is foul, profane, brutally cruel to his staff and friends, and constantly floating in what could charitably be called a cloud of noxiousness. But at least he's consistent.

Once offered $10,000 to anyone who could locate an actual snuff film (snuff created for sexual purposes.) Nobody has ever claimed this reward.

Got a blowjob from Linda Lovelace during an interview promoting Deep Throat, but got pissed off at her after she quit porn and released an autobiography which included unflattering stories about Goldstein.

Claims to have been arrested 19 times.

Curtis Sliwa on Al: "He doesn't have a humanitarian bone in his body."

Timeline

10 Jan 1936 Al Goldstein born, New York City.

1952 Al Goldstein's uncle arranges for a prostitute to deflower the 16 year old Goldstein.

Nov 1968 Al Goldstein launches Screw magazine, with $150 funding.

Apr 1969 Screw magazines runs a pictorial of two men engaged in sexual intercourse.

1973 Publishes nudes of Jackie-O in issue #206. Sells 530,000 copies.

Oct 1974 Playboy magazine runs an interview with pornographer Al Goldstein, in which he declares: "We [at Screw magazine] lead the league in tastelessness. Our photographs are filthier and our stories are more disgusting. We make no effort to be artistic. Our photos are so explicit that the readers can see the come running from the girl's mouth. Our stock in trade is raw, flailing sex."

1977 Federal obscenity trial.

1983 Al Goldstein arrested at St. Patrick's Cathedral, with his Vagina-Cross.

Jun 1983 John Holmes to Al Goldstein at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: "You're gaining weight, Goldstein. You should be on the same diet I'm on, the cocaine diet."

1997 Al Goldstein tells Davka magazine he is an atheist.

1998 Al Goldstein disinvites David Letterman from Screw's 30th anniversary party, "for having blackballed me from appearing on your crummy show."

Apr 1998 Al Goldstein installs a "fuck you finger" stone statue prominently in his backyard in Pompano Beach. It had been formerly used as a prop on the Spin City sitcom.

2001 On a recent legal case: "She [assistant Jennifer Lozinsky] was an elitist Jew who felt that her cunt did not smell from fish and yet as soon as she walked in my office, I heard the tune "The Shrimp Boats Are Coming." She was a typical elitist cunt who thought that her shit didn't stink. She disapproved of me and I had her assistant indicted."

Jan 2003 Al Goldstein is pulled off a plane in Fort Lauderdale, Florida after security screener Kelly Nobles reports that the pornographer made lewd comments to her. Nobles claims that Goldstein asked whether she were a true blonde, and then suggested they have sex and that she keep her uniform on. Goldstein denies everything, and the officers are forced to let him go.

6 Aug 2003 In an interview, Al Goldstein confides: "We're having money problems. The men's field sucks. Sales are off 70%... After 34 years of being outrageous, we're fighting for survival... The Village Voice took away all my hooker ads."

22 Oct 2003 Al Goldstein apologizes in court for harrassing former employee Jennifer Lozinski. Begging for mercy, Goldstein tells the judge: "I'm homeless. I'm selling my house. I'm going to be in a homeless shelter... I'm nearly 68 years old. This is not right. I served nine days at Rikers and seven days in a nut house."

http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/pornographers/al-goldstein/

[AdamSmith]

Al Goldstein, Creator of Screw Magazines, Dies at 77

Published:10:52 am EST, December 19, 2013| Updated:11:01 am EST, December 19, 2013| Comment | 49

By Danny Vega | heavy.com

The New York Times reports that Al Goldstein, a pornographer and magazine publisher, passed today at the age of 77 due to renal failure. Here's 5 Fast Facts.

1. Al Goldstein Published Screw Magazine

The debut issue of screw. Image Credit: Dbr.nu

Screw magazine was started in 1968 in a world where pornography was sold under the guise of being classy or refined. Screw, however, brought edgy grit and realism to the industry. In its debut issue, Al wrote:

"We promise never to ink out a pubic hair or chalk out an organ. We will apologize for nothing. We will uncover the entire world of sex. We will be the Consumer Reports of sex.”

The magazine led Al to be charged with obscenity multiple times, including a $5 million slander lawsuit due to the magazine reporting that Alabama governor, George Wallace, had learned sex acts from the publication. Al and George ended up settling for $12,500.

According to the New York Times, Screw magazine went under in 2003, but the NYPress says that the magazine has been resurrected by old employees:

2. Goldstein Notoriously Owned a Massive Middle Finger

Goldstein's massive middle finger stood in his waterfront mansion's backyard, a not-so-subtle gesture to passing boaters. He reportedly parted with the estate for some $1.7 million in 2004.

Apparently, however, he took the finger with him. Pompano Beach Mayor, John Rayson, said upon his sale of the estate, "I didn't like the finger. I know it's a free speech issue, but it was embarrassing. Every time I went out on my boat I'd see it."

He erected the finger in 1998 after buying it from ABC show, Spin City, where it was used as a prop.

3. Goldstein's Mark on Pornography Was His Brash, Tasteless Approach

“He clearly coarsened American sensibilities, Hefner did it with taste, Goldstein’s contribution is to be utterly tasteless.”

said his ex-lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, in 2004. He told Playboy in a 1974 interview, ""We [at Screw magazine] lead the league in tastelessness. Our photographs are filthier and our stories are more disgusting. We make no effort to be artistic. Our photos are so explicit that the readers can see the come running from the girl's mouth. Our stock in trade is raw, flailing sex."

Rotten.com reports of Al that he "once offered $10,000 to anyone who could locate an actual snuff film (snuff created for sexual purposes.) Nobody has ever claimed this reward."

Screw was not without its progressive edge, publishing two men engaging in sexual intercourse in 1969.

4. Al Claims to Have Been Arrested 17 Times

While many of the cases were obscenity charges, Al has gotten into recent trouble with authorities. He was reportedly taken off a plane in Fort Lauderdale after making lewd comments to a security screener.

5. Al is Survived by His Son and 5 Ex-Wives

He was reportedly long estranged from his 5th wife, Christine.

http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/12/al-goldstein-dead-dies-screw-magazine/

[AdamSmith]

Porn Pioneer Al Goldstein Dead At 77

The Brooklyn native, and unapologetic porn pioneer behind Screw magazine, Al Goldstein, died in New York this morning at the age of 77. He had been in a New York hospital this week, and his lawyer, Charles C. DeStefano, said the cause may have been renal failure. Goldstein was no stranger to health problems (suffering a stroke and a seizure in the past ten years). The Awl described the almost indescribable Goldstein as "an incredibly intelligent and hilarious man crippled by self-hatred, an inside-out Woody Allen, a lecherous troll from out of the Qumran caves."

There was some confusion earlier this week when Goldstein's friend, Penn Jillette from Penn & Teller (who paid for Goldstein's old Staten Island apartment), Tweeted that he was visiting him "as he dies in the hospital":

Penn Jillette ✔ @pennjillette Follow

I'm in NYC. Today I visited my hero and friend Al Goldstein as he dies in the hospital, and tomorrow night I celebrate Lou Reed's Life. NYC

8:59 PM - 15 Dec 2013

He later explained that Goldstein had not yet passed, but was not doing well:

Penn Jillette ✔ @pennjillette Follow

My buddy and hero, Al Goldstein is NOT dead. He is unresponsive and not doing well, but he is alive. Try to stop the rumors. Thanks.

11:55 AM - 16 Dec 2013

When his magazine debuted in 1968, the manifesto was unyielding—it read, in part: “We promise never to ink out a pubic hair or chalk out an organ. We will apologize for nothing. We will uncover the entire world of sex. We will be the Consumer Reports of sex.”

But Goldstein had quite a life even before his dirty mag days: "Before founding Screw, Goldstein was a radio car driver for Walter Winchell, a photographer for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (he was once jailed in Havana), a press photographer for Pakistan International Airlines (he accompanied Jackie Kennedy on her goodwill tour of Pakistan in 1962), and an industrial spy for a large corporation." He also turned up on New York's public access channels, later in life:

His life was filled with many ups and downs and twisted turns, enough for a book, and at different points he found himself living on a floor in Queens, a VA hospital, Rikers, a townhouse on East 61st Street, Florida (where a lawn statue was in the shape of a middle finger), the aforementioned Staten Island apartment, and a nursing home in Cobble Hill.

For more on his life, there's this 2011 Observer profile, and a lengthy obit from the NY Times.

http://gothamist.com/2013/12/19/porn_pioneer_al_goldstein_dead_at_7.php

[TampaYankee]

No one can deny he had a big impact on society and our laws. We are the better for it IMHO.