Public Memorial for Gloria Leonard Set for Feb. 27 in S.F.

SAN FRANCISCO—On February 27, the Center for Sex & Culture will host a memorial to celebrate the extraordinary life of Gloria Leonard—Golden Age porn queen, High Society publisher and free speech advocate. Leonard died on February 3 at her home in Hawaii. Leonard hit the porn world with a role in what many consider the greatest X-rated movie of all time, The Opening of Misty Beethoven. Porn auteur Radley Metzger's epic was a riff on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, the rags-to-riches story also immortalized in My Fair Lady. Leonard also worked with the Free Speech Coalition, among many other accomplishments. Annie Sprinkle joins CSC director/co-founder Carol Queen to host this memorial gathering, and they will welcome Gloria’s colleagues, friends and fans to celebrate her life. Among those who plan to attend are Howie Gordon, aka Richard Pacheco (author of the recently-released memoir Hindsight), and Sharon Mitchell, who will reminisce about Leonard and their time together in the adult industry. They also hope to see more of Gloria Leonard's colleagues from porn's Golden Age, including CJ Laing, Kellie Nichols and Jerry Heath. Leonard also published High Society magazine, hosted her own television show, and helmed both the Adult Film Association and the Adult Video Association. Leonard is survived by her daughter and granddaughter. For more about her life, read AVN's report on her death, tributes from adult industry colleagues, and shared memories from members of Club 90, an intimate group that included Leonard, Annie Sprinkle, Candida Royalle, Veronica Hart and Veronica Vera. Founded by sexologists Queen and Robert Morgan Lawrence in 2000, the Center for Sex & Culture houses a library, gallery, archive, and hosts sex education and cultural events. See more at SexandCulture.org. The Gloria Leonard Memorial Gathering will take place Thursday, February 27 at 7 p.m. at the center, which is located at 1349 Mission Street, between Ninth and Tenth streets in San Francisco. Fans, porn colleagues and the public all welcome—over 18 only, please. Above, right, portrait of Gloria Leonard by Denise LaFrance of Toronto, Canada. See more of her work on Flickr.com.