Give us a little background – back when you were just a cub
Ah – the olden days! 
Basically grew up in a very un-gay friendly part of Pennsylvania, in the coal regions. There was no diversity, no people of color and no gays.
Plenty of bears, tho -
When did you first realize you were gay?
I think I knew as early as third grade, but there wasn’t much I could DO with that knowledge, you know. My first gay sexually experience was in college (the first week of college) near Philadelphia. With a bear, of course
Seriously, with a bear?
A big burly hairy daddy bear (who was probably younger than I am now…) that I met through a newspaper ad. Remember those days? But he was very sweet and we had a wonderful 15 minutes together
And did his bearness influence your taste in men?
I didn’t think so at the time, but looking back he probably did.
When did you first identify with the bears?
I guess it started identifying as a bear before we moved from Philly, in the late 90′s .the bear community was only getting started in Philly about that time and I joined a group called the Liberty Bears. Since then, the Liberty Bears have really grown but back then it was a group of about ten guys.
When did you cross paths with Mr Lit?
August, 1982! Harry took me to my first gay bar, in fact. It was kismet! Harry thought I was just a cool straight guy (!) and brought me to a sleazy place called 247. He was so proud of himself
A month later I came out to him and he was like “Is it because of the bar??”
Tell us about Lazy Bear
Lazy Bear is, honestly, the most rewarding thing I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a boatload of work, and it’s frustrating and crazy, but I enjoy the hell out of every minute.
The event pre-dates me, but Harry used to call me in Philly and tell me about this great little town on the Russian River and he talked about having a pool party or picnic as a fundraiser. Something small for a couple of guys, maybe a couple dozen.
The first Lazy Bear was small, too. They raised enough money to buy a printer for Positive Resource Center!
When did you get involved?
I have a very hard time saying no to Harry. So I had volunteered for LBW starting in 2005, running the “beer token” booths. In late 2006 Frank Strona told Harry that he was stepping down as CFO of the Board and Harry asked me join. CFO is one of those 52-week jobs, but it’s great. And the folks at my “real” job at the Chronicle are fantasic about giving me time off to do LBW.
Lazy Bear is taking a year off next year – what does that mean?
Yes, we are hibernating for the summer of 2010. We had a make a decision when we realized the Gay Games was the same weekend as our event. Given that Harry and Allen will be at the Games (as will a lot of our regular attendees), we decided to take a break.
Will you have other events in 2010?
Yes, we’ll still have Lazy Bear Holiday in Palm Springs over Thanksgiving, and we’re planning some events here and in Guerneville on a much smaller scale.
We also have something BIG up our sleeves for later this year that we’re still working on, but it will be AMAZING
If you could have a drink with anyone – who would it be?
I’d love to have a drink with Armistead Maupin. He’s an amazing story teller and one of the great chroniclers of our generation. I’ve met him briefly once or twice. He’s come to LBW in the past, but I’m always in a dark room counting moist money during most of the weekend!
What’s coming up for you?
My partner, Cody and I are planning a fundraiser in March at the Lone Star for the San Francisco Food Bank and Magnet. It’s a 90′s themed event called GRUNGESTAR. Live music, the works
Sorry the title didn’t come with a big cash prize or a lovely sash – but I’ll work on Armistead. It only comes with all the love and admiration of your fellow bear brothers!
That would be great, but I’m really happy and proud just to have been nominated for BOTY. I don’t need the other stuff.
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