FLASHback to 1980

Working in show business can be tough duty. Ask anybody who knows. It’s not all fun and games.

For instance, one evening in July of 1980 a couple of traveling porn queens came by the Biograph Theatre. Naturally, they asked for the manager.

So I was fetched from my sanctuary office to talk with Annie Sprinkle and another woman (the one in the photo) who claimed she was from Richmond (Hermitage High). Sometimes, the X-rated touring performers from the live shows at the Lee Art Theater in the next block of Grace Street stopped by, so I figured that was the deal.

Like, maybe they were film buffs who wanted free passes? They had a limo parked in front of the theater. Their driver was a dwarf. No joke.

After what sounded to me like a lot of cocaine-driven nonsense about a glossy magazine spread, and how they'd been to other local landmarks, Annie asked me to pose in front of the theater with the other lady. Those were simpler times. Why not?

As Annie told me to stand a little closer, what’s-her-name? -- I think it might have been Honey -- gave me a hug and flashed what I immediately believed to be her left breast. Annie took the picture. My reaction (as seen in the photo) was genuine. Spontaneous. The duo had what they wanted, so they giggled and piled back into the limo.

My co-workers couldn't stop laughing, as they had seen the whole thing through the cinemascopic front windows. Later the silly picture showed up in Partner, a forgettable soft-core rag. (Roy Scherer was kind enough to bring me a copy. He couldn't stop chuckling.) The magazine feature displayed other shots of "Honey" in flash modes in front of various familiar local landmarks.

By the way, the button I'm wearing in the photo that Annie snapped displayed a Spanish Mr. Natural. It was a gift. And, that was that.

To change the subject, the next year (1981) Grace Street was changed from a west-only one-way street to two-way. The change was probably toughest on the area's winos, but it wasn't easy on anybody.

That neighborhood hasn't been the same since. And, good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are..."

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