Contest Speech

What an amazing journey it has been since coming out into Leather more than twenty years ago! So many people have influenced me over the years but no one more than my friend, my brother, my mentor, Al "D" Sowers.

I recall a day in the mid-nineties. Al and I had wired his boy up to one of his cruel, homemade, electrical devices. And we were cranking away, making his boy dance like an organ grinder's monkey and laughing. Suddenly Al grew quiet and asked me if I ever thought of training a boy.

"Al, I may be a dominant but I am no sir," I replied quickly.

How I wish that Al D was here tonight, sitting in the back, smiling and shaking his head with approval!

Al taught me many things. He taught me that play is more than just a mechanism to a thrill. SM can be a means of transformation, a lens through which I can see myself more clearly.

Every morning in Zen meditation I ask myself, "What am I?" And although there is no defined answer, I offer these words by my friend, author David May:

SM gives me back myself by removing the clutter.

I am a proud member of this Tribe. I am a Leatherman. I am a Sir.