Harry & Johnny

Fanwork
Title:	Harry & Johnny
Creator:	Ruth Kurz and Ad Nauseam Press
Date(s):	1980-1991
Medium:	shared universe
Fandom:	Dirty Harry & Magnum Force
External Links:
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Harry & Johnny in interior art from Magnetism #1, Ruth Kurz

Harry & Johnny is a slash fandom created by Ruth Kurz and Teri White utilizing the characters Harry Callahan from Dirty Harry and Magnum Force, and John Davis from Magnum Force. Harry was played by Clint Eastwood while Davis was portrayed by David Soul, the actor who played Kenneth Hutchinson in Starsky and Hutch, and that was an immediate fandom bridge with people.

Regarding the premise: Ruth Kurz, the publisher of the Harry and Johnny universe rewrote the ending of the Magnum Force movie where John Davir is killed off by Dirty Harry. In the Johnny & Harry universe, Davis doesn't die when Dirty Harry shoots him off the dock but instead returns, and the pair fall blissfully in love.

Private, Indulgent, and Fun

Some fans feel that the Harry and Johnny zines were quite possibly the sweetest, most wonderful indulgences that Starsky & Hutch and Clint Eastwood fans ever created. Or as one fan put it:

Each and every one of them was intended as an act of love, and that showed in the stories. Johnny and Harry were the most perfect couple fandom has ever seen, and after twenty years, I still love them and wish they were still being published on a regular basis.

In 1981, Ruth Kurz said: "H/J is for fun," and "I have often said, ‘I can write better than this,’ and in the attempt to prove it, accidentally created a whole, new universe!"

She also said: "It’s okay. Friends don’t need secrets, and H/J is for friends."

About the Fandom

From Klangley56 :

This fandom was unique in a couple of ways. First, its creation can be specifically attributed to Ruth Kurz and Teri White. Second, it was the first time a fandom existed that had no gen component. Harry & Johnny was created and perpetuated as slash, period. It was based on characters in "Magnum Force," [the second Dirty Harry movie] as played by Clint Eastwood (Harry) and David Soul (Johnny). Both Ruth and Teri started out in ST fandom. Teri also wrote some ST gen and some of the earliest K/S. At the time they created H/J fandom, they were active in S&H fandom. H/J initially was underground -- not in zines, being circulated in manuscript form (like the Pros Circuit stories). As word got out and more fans got interested, they started publishing them in zine form, starting in 1980. Teri was involved primarily in the first several zines, then Ruth took over the primary writing chores. Ruth also did most of the artwork that was included (the zines also were liberally illustrated with "cut and paste" photos -- literally cut and paste, not in computer terms). Over 40 zines were published, and it still was being published as late as 1991. H/J fandom drew contributions from many noted fan writers, poets, and artists of the day.

The Shared Universe

Ruth Kurz recruited many other authors to help write fiction in this very tightly controlled universe. The lives of Harry and Johnny were thought out in every detail and aside from a few planned instances, there was no overlap or contradiction in the fiction.

Kurz quoted Marion Zimmer Bradley when she wrote in Whatever Happened to Harry and Johnny:

"If others wish to play in my fantasy world, who am I to slam its gates... Why should I deny myself the pleasure... And now I have lots of... friends, who will come into my magic garden and play the old 'pretend games' with me."

Some similar shared fan-created universes:

• Kiefer/Lou
• Tris/Alex
• Vas & Dex

Kurz' Descriptions and Comments

1982

Kurz wrote that the inspiration for the entire series/universe came from a story by Billie Fowler.

[The] vignette, "Spring Afternoon," by Billie Fowler was the inspiration "for" the H/J series. Like all Billie's stories it was written for herself alone. She never intended any of her fantasies and "what ifs" to be published, and only showed them to friends who asked for them. I asked her to share with you the the one which introduced me to the possibility of a loving relationship between Harry and Johnny, thus inspiring MAGNUM FORCE: DAVIS. Thank you, Billie.

1993

Kurz wrote about her fannish journey and how it led to creating Harry/Johnny:

I got tired of the constant s/m stories in Trek about 13 years back, but I realize that part of my slacking off on Trek fandom was a new interest in S&H, which led to H/J--- and I was off and writing. I'm glad it is still readable and enjoyable nowadays.

Kurz explained the origin of this shared universe:

Hi, I have been asked about the Harry and Johnny universe. I usually do not advertise H/J zines because word of mouth keeps me busy enough cloning them at cost for anyone interested. If any of you want them I still have them all. Also feel free to borrow them from friends and clone them. H/J has always been for sharing. If you want a list, write to me...

H/J is based on the movie MAGNUM FORCE with Dirty Harry falling for John Davis, the head of the vigilante cops played by David Soul. This is fantasy. Love at first sight and in love forever. It is unpretentious fun meant to entertain. The first book was only supposed to be my 15 minute explanation for how to keep DS alive at the end of the movie. Okay, the stuntman lived, but Davis is a killer. How to make a nice guy out of him was my task. Fun. I was assisted by TW, who has since gone professional,so it is wise not to splash her name over a slashnet. Terri L was there at the beginnings, too. Way back in, ohgod, 1979. It still surprises me that so many people continue to request back copies. I'm delighted.

And again, feel free to to clone borrowed copies anytime.

Regarding point-of-view:

I suppose H/J is unique in that it is a single timeline, with only one first time of anything scene. they just keep developing and learning about each other. that made it fun for me. I remember Teri told me to write a story in first person. I did, but felt unnatural doing it. I guess it worked okay, but I went back to 3rd after that.

[a year later] I don't resent stories in the first person, but I find them very difficult to write. Teri made me write one H/J story in first person (MARCH) and it was like sweating blood for me, while it is probably very easy for someone else. She was being a true writing friend, getting me out of the usual and trying other ways of doing things. I still prefer third person with a limited point of view.

About the cliches:

Someone once said gleefully that H/J is like a trip through the Joy of Gay Sex, only I had not seen the book at that time, I just had fun. So it doesn't surprise me that I used cliche positions and plots, and I'm glad that they read well in spite of it.

About the size of the fandom:

It is nice to have a small intimate group, but it is just as nice to have a large intimate group. H/J started with 10 people. It grew to hundreds and perhaps even thousands, but the intimate group remained about 200 with some leaving and new ones coming. I correspond personally with at least that many at a time.

1994

Back when H/J was still new, I had a slash reader in South Africa who wanted it, but knew she couldn't get it because all slash was being confiscated and destroyed.

My greatest achievement? [Having] kids, [getting a] degree, but probably doing some 42 H/J zines in about 5 years.

Being found with slash in your possession by mundanes of any kind is always a bit embarrassing. The police and post office seem to get uptight about a lot of things, whether they are illegal or not. Yes, Lauren, I was a

cop and if I had been the one to find it I would have chuckled, but perhaps I am the exception.

When H/J was in its prime, one reader wrote a very cute vignette called The Kurz Curse. It was about someone trying to xerox H/J zines on the company copier, and suffering a crick in the neck from looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. And SHE was a cop.

Yes, ten years has made a big difference [with using pseuds and real names in fandom] although I had already started pubbing H/J under my own name for many moons. Maybe I was too dumb to be paranoid, but it did seem silly to me to bother with a pseudonym. until Karen B and crew were openly openly threatened by some anti slash people.

I remember being totally wrapped up in H/J at the time, and the stories coming to me were ego-boo that people wanted to "play in my backyard." Your story was especially interesting as I was also an SH fan. It is still one of the most popular in the H/J series, and it certainly invited a lot of people to want and write sequels.

I know how much feedback means to me whether as writer, artist, or editor and wanted to pass that on to the people who had done so much to make the H/J universe so much fun. I got the idea from other editors who printed out LOCs either in their zines or in separate booklets. It always meant a lot to me. I am so glad you liked getting the feedback, too. Thanks again for being part of "my" universe and for saying such nice things. You made my day.

[...]

Most LOCs only say "I liked it" and not why. Even in a small, almost family-like fandom like H/J was back then. But for the most part the LOCs said more, possibly because it WAS such an intimate group -- at least, they mostly all knew me, so the LOCs were part of personal correspondence.

Yes, long before computers entered my life I did the entire H/J series on manual, simple electric and finally Selectric II. It was edited, reedited and proofed before it was printed. There are still errors, but not many because it is my belief that any error or typo interrupts the reader's train of thought, spoiling the story. Computers are a LOT easier, but every story still needs proofing, editing, reediting by more than one person. Quality is still a valuable part of any zine.

1995

I wrote my H/J series and shared it with friends. It grew way beyond my personal circle, with my permission, but the feedback from so many people I knew made me feel it was still among friends. I thought I had control over where it went. I got a surprise/shock when I found out the first time how much farther it had gone when people I never heard of started to write to me about it, saying they had found the zines on tables at cons, and could they get the rest. I remember having mixed emotions about realizing I no longer had control of my work. The upshot was that I accepted and appreciated the spreading of "my" universe. I still have some control, as I've made it known that I can and will clone any and all of the past issue for anyone who pays costs. I still do this far more often than I would have thought possible for zines written in the late '70s and early '80s.

Now the e-mail question comes up and I realize that one of the joys of doing H/J was the illustrations, both photos and artwork, carefully chosen to complement the story. In one example, Teri White's OCTOBER, the illos told a between-the-lines story that would be totally lost with only a bare emailing of the story itself.

But I accept that email is taking over, and perhaps someday will include the illos more often.

Back in the dark ages when I was pubbing H/J, I carefully copied all LOCs out of personal letters sent to me and wrote them up without listing the names of those sending the LOCs. Whenever I got a pageful, I passed them along to the writers involved. Granted, most of H/J was my own, but once other writers began to "play in my yard" which delighted me, I wanted them to hear the comments, and carefully passed them along.

Two Rare Ads

Harry/Johnny fiction was a word-of-mouth fandom and zine ads were rare. Here are two:

The stories in this continuing saga have always been made available on request to anyone who wants to share the fun of a loving, soapy, sexy relationship. For information on the cost of cloning and for the next publication in the series, please SASE.

From Magnum Force: Davis to Love is a Many-Splendored Zine, all 39 H/J zines will be made available upon request. Mixed Media is still in the works, slowly but surely, with H/J meeting: Yellow Rose, Hardcastle & McCormick, Simon & Simon, K/S, Hunter, B/D, Dempsey & Makepeace, Vas & Dex, Remington Steele, Miami Vice, and S/H -- the responses to Double Play. This will probably be my last H/J zine as I must withdraw from active fandom for sanity maintenance.

Harry & Johnny and the Formation of Slash

Main article: History of Slash Fandom

Comments by Judith Gran:

In the early days of K/S fandom, there was only K/S, and only a few other same-sex couples were even on the horizon. So people thought of K/S as unique and special, and S/H (Starsky/Hutch) as only slightly less unique and special, and it was only until a pairing like H/J [Harry/Johnny, based on the movie Magnum Force] emerged from the slash-fantasy soup and crawled up on land that fans began to generalize from the unique, special, deep-friendship-based pairings to the more abstract phenomenon of "slash." More specifically, my hypothesis is that it takes a critical mass of at least three same-sex pairings in the fan fiction produced and read by a common core of media fans to generate the concept of "slash" in the abstract.

Where H/J Falls On One Fan's Slashibility Scale

In 1984, a fan rates four television shows on their levels of "slashability":

... let us proceed to the series in question: STAR TREK, STARSKY AND HUTCH, THE PROFESSIONALS and MAGNUM FORCE. Considering each in turn, they can be ranked in terms of the series with the most evidence for a "/" relationship. STARSKY AND HUTCH is number one in this regard. There is a great deal of physical contact, obvious affection and a definite attempt on the part of the actors to portray two french kissing homosexuals opps that's a line from the blooper reel — to portray two men who dare to care. STAR TREK places second. There are some moments in the episodes that are SOOOO K/S, that I'd like to know who was responsible for them—the script, the director, the actors, and that magic, that chemistry and interplay (must be the chemistry, didn't Bill admit that he and Leonard have loved each other for years?). THE PROFESSIONALS ranks a distant third. (I msut [sic] admit to making this judgment after seeing only the 6 episodes Darien Duck so graciously loaned Central Ohio and Lower Michigan). I am a confirmed fan of Doyle-he of the cute derriere (although Paul Michael still has the best in my book and Shatner can't be left behind), curly hair, twinkle in the eye, nice chest (Freddie's, though, is much better). There is not a lot to construe or misconstrue in this series. In fact, I felt as if I were seeing a late stage in a relationship, one in which the principals had been lovers but had taken other lovers even though they remained close friends and linked to one another in such a way that whither the one went the other would go. Of course, then there is that scene in the bowling alley when Bodie's hands managed to grope all over Doyle's body. MAGNUM FORCE (as the source for Harry/Johnny) is fourth, mostly by virtue of the fact that the fandom springs from one look in the middle of the movie. (One must applaud the writer of H/J for finding a way to make Johnny, a cold blooded killer a sympathetic figure -- that's fine writing folks!)

A Sort of RPF in Photos: Fancasting

He may LOOK like Starsky or Paul Michael Glaser, but he is really Dr. Ben Stein, friend and doctor. Artist is Cyndee Morand, the art appeared in A Portfolio of Poetry and Portraits

The Harry and Johnny zines contained a small were portrayed in photos as OMC (Paul Michael Glaser, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Shandy, Paul Newman...). This "RPF" element was physical only; it wasn't the actor or the actor's roles that were referenced, simply the photos.

From a fan in 1993:

I highly suggest the series. Ruth put in some secondary characters based on real people. Fun to guess who they really are!

Another fan explained in 1995:

Everyone in fandom back then eagerly awaited the latest installment...and howled with laughter to see their favorite photos of the guys altered to fit whatever unlikely plot was going on.

Fancasting Bumps Up Against Reality

Paul Michael Glaser, his wife Elizabeth Glaser were fancasted as Ben and Miriam Stein (and their two young sons, Paul and David). This use of real people as characters was done long before the Glaser family was struck by tragedy.

In 2002, a fan was outraged that a "Harry & Johnny" zine she had purchased on ebay included a depiction of Elizabeth Glaser. From an excerpt of a lengthy discussion on a mailing list:

What the people who put the zine together did was use artwork of PMG & DS to depict original characters in their zine. There was even one drawing of PMG with his late wife, Elizabeth! That one really upset me. [...] If they were original works produced for that particular zine, I don't think it was right to use the actor's real life images to depict original characters that the actors never portrayed anywhere. And it definitely wasn't right to use Elizabeth's image as she wasn't an actor - she was a private person (at the time) married to an actor. Real big difference. [...] I'm sure that when Ruth put together this zine, she was doing it only for a small circle of friends and fellow HJ fans and had no idea that her work would appear on an auction site in the future. I'm sure she meant using the images of PMG and EG as respectful and totally innocent.

A fan on the same mailing list responded to these comments:

If you had taken the time to check the publishing date on those H&J zines, you would have seen that they were published nearly a decade before Elizabeth was ever diagnosed with HIV. [...] Every picture of Elizabeth used in those zines was either taken from a magazine or purchased from professional photographers, so they were already public domain. Secondly, these weren't even real zines. They were zeroxed manuscripts that were originally mailed to a small number of people who got a kick out of seeing all their favorite actors become one big family. [...] These zines were never intended for mass production and were only sold at cons because people were dying to read the latest installment in the Johnny and Harry saga. Everyone in fandom back then eagerly awaited the latest installment... and howled with laughter to see their favorite photos of the guys altered to fit whatever unlikely plot was going on. Elizabeth Glazer [sic], Robert Redford and the other actors were all brought in because they were favorites with the fans. There was never anything bad or disrespectful done with any actor whose image was presented in those zines. [...] Elizabeth's image in those zines in no way demeaned her. Her face wasn't stuck on some bimbo's body and put in a kinky sex scene. Elizabeth's representation was treated with respect and love throughout the entire Johnny and Harry saga. She was portrayed as the PMG character's wife of fifteen years and after all that time and two kids, he was still crazy in love with her. How could this possibly be disrespectful to Elizabeth, who was loved by S&H fans long before that tragedy ever struck their family? The character that was based on her was one of the most loving, supportive, positive female characters I have ever seen in a fanzine. [...] I agree that photo-manipulation is creepy, but that is hardly what was done in the Johnny and Harry zine. In almost every picture of Elizabeth in those zines, she is depicted with her husband. The only thing that bordered on photo-manipulation was where Ruth had cut out the guys from separate pictures and tried to put them together to illustrate her scene or when she drew clothing or background into the photos. Anyone who saw these zines could be in no doubt that these representations were paste-jobs...because there was no intent to make it look real. All that was intended was to entertain, which Ruth did in her irrepressible style. [...] I think that fan art is as much a representation of the actors as the drawing the mustaches on David Soul was in the Johnny and Harry zines. In fact, if I were David, I might be less offended by the sombrero and mustache additions to my photos, which lent a charming air of silliness to the whole thing, than I might be if I saw a slash artpiece showing off all my assets as I had sex with my male co-star.

Vids

Harry and Johnny was a very small, very private fandom and this may explain why there were few songvids produced. The additional challenges of creating a constructed reality vid may also have been a factor.

In 1995, Stacey D submitted her Harry/Johnny vid "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" to the Escapade vid show to mixed reactions. "If meeting Dirty Harry was the best thing that ever happened to Johnny," one convention goer remarked wryly, "then I feel very sorry for Johnny."

In 1996, Ruth Kurz commented about what appears to be another H/J vid:

There are so many great scenes for the clips from S/H, Pros, K/S, and other multi-episode shows, but not much to choose from for Harry/Johnny. Stacy managed somehow, and the very first S/H video had an interruption with H looking at J in the underground shooting range from the Magnum Force movie while the song "First time ever I saw your face" played. Then it said "Oops, wrong universe." Many thanks as ever to Kendra and Diana for doing that video. I was so pleasantly surprised.

Possible H/J vids:

• The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me by Stacey D
• The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Stacey D
• Feels Like The First Time by Stacey D
• I'll Stand By You by Bliss
• Johnny Feelgood by Bliss

Harry & Johnny Zine Timeline of Events

This list is summarized and wikilinked from Ruth's timeline in "Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?". For a list of these stories, see: Harry & Johnny/Stories As They Fit Into the Timeline

Timeline from Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?, click to enlarge

Timeline from Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?, click to enlarge

Timeline from Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?, click to enlarge

Ruth writes about her universe in Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?, click to enlarge

The Zines

a price list/listing of zines from Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny?

The creation of the zines was somewhat unique in that they were based on a combination of a formal shared timeline, with multiple independently written offshoots. The original idea behind putting the fiction into zine format was that the fiction would be shared with a very limited number of people for the price of zeroxing and mailing. Those original zines cost about three dollars each (plus first class postage). However, the popularity of the fandom grew and the zines were also sold at conventions.

The "Month" Novels

The Davis Diary and Callahan Calendar series (co-written by Teri White and Ruth Kurz unless otherwise marked). Each novel focused on one month in the life of Harry and Johnny in 1975.

January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | Response to October | November | December

Other Novels

Behind the Enforcer | Face in the Crowd | G-String | Magnum Force: Davis | Magnum Force: Harry | Magnum Force: Wolf | Man of the Streets | Night Games | Photo Flash | Rapid Fire | Shooting Star | A Week in L.A.

Anthologies

Bear Hugs & Bunny Kisses | Bicentennial Trek | Bits and Pieces | Double Play | Free and Easy | Free to Be You and Me | Freebie | Harry & Johnny Fun Supplement | Love is a Many-Splendored Zine | A Little Past, A Little Future | Mixed Media | More Fun with Harry & Johnny | A Portfolio of Poetry and Portraits | Potpourri | Son of Freebie | | Spring Fling | Timeline | Tying Up Loose Ends | Whatever Happened to Harry & Johnny? | Wheels of Darkness and Other Stories

Multimedia Anthologies with Harry & Johnny Content

Best Little Valentine Zine in Texas | Boys in Blue | Fruit Cocktail | Hungry Hearts | Magnetism

Fan Comments

1983

H/J is the most libidinous fandom going.... I started to count in one story and in the first 4 pages they made love to each other 10 times!

1984

H/J is a well written, consistent universe precisely because there is only one editor putting out the material and she can be selective. This ensures that H and J fuck at least once a page. If you haven't read H/J, I urge you to try it it really fun.

The appeal of H/J lies... in how many times the characters can have sex on a page. It really is part of the fun of the universe. Ruth, and the others who have carved this fandom out of the slim pickings in MAGNUM FORCE, have actually done an excellent job of creating characters. It was, and is, a challenge to have cold-exterior Harry Callahan shiver inside when he so much as looks at Johnny, and make it seem so in character. The stories in this universe tend to be more adventure-type stories mainly because, I think, the issue of sexual preferences was settled in the beginning. With this no longer a source of creative inspiration, the writers were pushed into doing another type of story; the H/J relationship is at the core of the stories, but it is not the sole focus. The boys have sex, but they have also gone on to do other things in life. From being a cop gone bad who crawled out of the Bay, Johnny has become a respected photographer. We've seen a real maturing of both characters as the series evolved. It is a maturity, a growth, many would like to see developed in other universes. The result is one of the happiest fandoms around. An H/J story never fails to make you feel good because the story elements work together to evoke the sense of love the characters share in the readers.

1988

a family tree

She [Fish] likes the psychological honesty in H/J fiction. In comparing it to K/S, she speaks disapprovingly of the Harlequin Romance mentality that characterizes much of K/S. Since Harlequin Romances know nothing of the sexual psychology of men they are extremely unrealistic. They are also dishonest because they refuse to recognize that their heroines are primarily feeling lust. Too many young women are brought up with the myth that sexual desire is "love at first sight", Leslie complains, and this is reflected in K/S. H/J, on the other hand, is very direct about sex. There are no holds barred in H/J zines.

1993

Ruth has created a convincing slash relationship (H/J) for two characters who are dead set on killing each other throughout the entire movie they're in, and never touch each other or exchange more than a sneer.

1996

How much slashability does [a fandom] have to show? Well, it's funny -- I'm not wedded to 'canon', so if two guys are cute but virtually never appear together, that's fine by me, and doesn't stand in my way at all. (I like to think I got that from the Harry/Johnny experience. :)

I want to tell you how incredibly much I loved your Harry/Johnny zines and what a profound effect they had on my own writing and publishing practices. And the funny thing about it is that I really didn't care about the characters when I started reading H/J, I just wanted to read slash. But you made them important to me, and that's the mark of a great writer.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I think it's very true. Some of the things I loved most about your H/J zines were the cute way you published photos of the characters, how you added "guest stars", and the way you made it a continuing saga. As anyone who has read/is reading my The Terranova Situation can attest, these are three major factors in my story as well.

2001

I remember Harry and Johnny fondly. The characterizations were well-drawn, the books had plots and the boys did get it on! I still remember specific scenes and lines after all these years, which says something for the writing!

2003

Someone very kindly collected all the separate Harry/Johnny stories for me into a collected whole in lifetime order. Beautifully done. I began reading and loved the explanation of how Harry and Johnny got together. The story lines were terrific also but by the time I got through half I was feeling a bit gaggy on the amount of sex. I realized that the individual stories each were an entity unto themselves and were in zines months apart so no one else was reading twelve major sex scenes in one night and would not get to feeling overwhelmed by too much. What a shock to a confirmed slasher 'too much sex'.

2014

I've got a stack of Harry/Johnny fanfic here, and I never read it. A bit bizarre, I know. They rate after my S/H zines, and I haven't finished reading all of those yet. But after maybe 25 years or so of having those zines/stories, it's just silly to have the H/J lying around. I don't think I will ever read it. Magnum Force didn't grab me. But then again, maybe I should rewatch that now that I'm an adult (by a good way) and I might _see_ it finally.

The artwork for it, was at times very good though.

I think with me it's maturity, because I've been emotionally wayy too deep most of my life. I'd be happy to try to be a little bit more two-dimensional. That would be a relief. ;-)

I've only read one Harry/Johnny fic, and it wasn't actually H/J pairing. It was the four rookie cops, who top Johnny, seemingly with his consent to start with, but then it goes beyond his liking and he wants out, but they carry on. Harry sort of rescues him. I squee at H/J pairing, H just seems too old to me, more dirty old man than lover. Although, I do like some of the artwork.

I'm either way too emotional, or not emotional enough. Can't seem to find a happy medium--lol...

[snipped]

I know he was 30. I have to remind myself when I call him baby boy that that baby boy is 23 years older than me-lol. It's just that personally H/J doesn't work for me. Another pairing of that kind might well tick the boxes. That's why I like the fact we all like different things. Variety is the spice of life and a view we might not have considered working for us does when someone presents us with the opportunity to explore it. Initially, S/H didn't work for me. I hated them together at first. Now look at me!

Intensely Small, Intensely Personal

art from A Week in L.A., Ruth Kurz

In 1981, the fandom's creator, Ruth Kurz described H/J:

The Harry/Johnny series is a private saga written for and passed around only among friends who like it. The postage is too expensive to share our few library copies with anyone who would tromp.

Other fans wrote about the fandom's small and private reach:

I suppose it was I who first mentioned the Harry/Johnny stories in these pages [of the letterzine, S and H] -- only after they were mentioned by the authors during Zebra Con panels. I was asked point-blank when in England if I knew anything about them-- the grapevine had gotten that far, even if the stories hadn't by that time. It's hard to keep something truly secret in fandom; everyone seems to be someone else's best friend.

As for the Dirty/Davis thing, since it's private and goes only to people who know what it is and want to read it, it's not open to review — and it's free of pretensions; the authors are writing simply for the fun of it...kind of like all the erotic Trek stuff was until the zines started publishing and the debates began.

These stories are not 'real' zines offered for sale, but only stories intended to circulate among those friends interested -- we must admit to being a little amazed that the list has grown from three or four to several dozen. No one who is not on our readership list is supposed to see the stories.