Lenny of LSBReviews.com Passes

Lenny and I began reviewing at roughly the same time and had worked closely at times. Way back at the beginning I helped set him up reviewing for Rad Video (Back when they had a significant straight porn presence, Lenny and I were basically the review staff.) A few years later I approached him with an idea to combine our work with that of another critic (Mr. Web Review) to form a big site together. For all kinds of reasons that never happened, but we continued to work closely together and communicate often for several years. The end result of that effort was that he did launch his site which he propagated with honest, highly opinionated reviews.

I always enjoyed Lenny’s writing. He gave good descriptions of the action and was passionate about his favorite girls. We often went toe to toe in email exchanges or chat rooms. He was the sort of person I enjoyed debating with, ardent, fair and just stubborn enough keep fighting. I recall a specific conversation about Jesse Jane and cum swallowing that probably could have gone on for days. We got down to some Clintonian slicing and dicing of words and never could decide if swallowing was in fact, “swallowing.”

In recent years, my communications with Lenny were few and far behind. He played in the RogReviews.com fantasy baseball and football leagues and was active most of the time. This past football season was an exception, but I was a little busy with other things and didn’t notice the decreased activity. I wish now I had reached out sooner, but isn’t that always the way it goes.

When I heard of Lenny’s passing I immediately remember our last long conversation. It was July 4th 2009. I remember the date because we were both watching the hot dog eating contest on ESPN. He told me he had seen one live and I commented that the whole thing seemed far “too American” It was a lot of fun to share that event with someone, even virtually.

We talked for a few hours that day. He asked how things were going and I painted a rather bleak picture of the industry and my own site. I told him that if things didn’t get better I might be looking for a new job. He floored with his next question.

“Is it all about the money for you Rog?”

I jokingly replied, “what else is there?”

“The joy of being Rog” he said, “and all the free blowjobs.”

That was Lenny’s sense of humor, but I knew him well enough to know that the first part was sincere. The “joy of being Rog” meant doing what it is that I do, writing, commenting on porn, trying to help people find something good, praising the best we have to offer and blasting the bad.

I explained to him that it was never really about the money, but that my site was my full time job and I have a mortgage and a family to take care of. That without a steady income from the site I would have to go back to a day job and run the site in my spare time as I did pre-2001.

As we talked, his question really hit me. Why do I do what I do? I do it because I love it. I love to write and I have always loved porn. I don’t always love the industry and have had a few run ins with people I could do without, but I really do love what I do. RogReviews.com has always been a labor of love. I spend a lot of hours working on it and always try to make it as good as possible. Sometimes, when things get bad I forget that. I forget that the site has allowed me incredible freedom to be with my family when other husbands and fathers are stuck in an office or flying here and there. It’s easy to forget sometimes.

Something happened during that conversation with Lenny. His words reminded me of why we both got started doing this. It was an appreciation for the good in this business and a distain for money wasted on bad porn. It was that conversation that recharged my batteries and ultimately led me to redesign the site. I wish that Lenny could have seen the changes made and been around to see what can happen with his site. I wish that I had told him how much our conversation changed me. But isn’t that always the way. It’s things we wish that we had said that kick our asses.

I’m not sure yet what to do with LSBReviews.com. We talked that day about the future of his site. He told me to do with it whatever I wanted. I told him that I wanted to fold it in and give him some DVDs to review. He had already cut way back, but expressed a desire to keep reviewing the best of the best. Lenny is gone now, but I will do something with his site. At the very least his legacy should live on. He has done way too much good work to just let it fade away. I promise that I won’t let that happen.

On a more personal note I will always remember Lenny as kind and funny. We got started about the same time and used to bicker over who got which movie from Rad Video. At one point when his site was taking off he sent me a thank you gift. From our conversations Lenny knew that I was from San Diego and grew up watching Tony Gwynn play. He knew that Gwynn was my favorite player and a bit of a hero to me (For his amazing work ethic and his commitment to community as well as his amazing skills on the field.)

So one day I get a note in the mail from Lenny thanking me for the help getting his site off the ground and for a box of movies that he really wanted. In the envelope was a 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn rookie card. He remember how much I liked Gwynn and that I used to collect cards. It was a kind, unnecessary and personal gift. That card still sits on my desk next to my monitor. I can’t look at it without thinking about Lenny and how without porn I never would have made his acquaintance. I am thankful I got to know him and miss him now that he is gone.

Oh and as I watched the hot dog contest the other day and couldn’t help but wish that Lenny were on AIM so we could argue about whether or not Jesse Jane had actually swallowed a load sufficiently.

Happy 4th Lenny, and rest in peace my friend. You are missed.

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