Page 26 - AVN October 2016

IN MEMORIAM | |By Dr. Carol Queen
Joani Blank’s Herstory Dr. Carol Queen remembers Good Vibrations founder
exit followed a month of tributes and time spent connecting
with family and friends; she was proud to face death with the
same degree of forthrightness and fearlessness she brought to
discussions about sexuality.
Joani was already working to change society’s attitudes
about sex, especially women’s sexuality, sexual health, and
reproductive rights, when the idea to form Good Vibrations
hit. Involved with San Francisco Sex Information in the early
1970s, she founded Down There Press in 1975 (its first
project was her book about vibrators … in calligraphy!) and
then began working with famed feminist sex therapist Lonnie
Barbach’s project to support “pre-orgasmic” women, held at
UC Medical Center.
It was there that Joani heard countless women, when
recommended they try a vibrator, protest that they would
never want to enter one of those places to get one. In what
Vibrations in 1977, has died.
Joani Blank, who founded Good
we called a “click” moment back then (like a light switch
She was 79 and had been
flipping on), Joani realized how much she could contribute
diagnosed with pancreatic
by creating a very different kind of place. Touted as a “clean,
cancer just over two months before.
well-lighted place for sex toys, books, and [later] videos,”
True to form for a woman who
Joani’s brainstorm did indeed immediately serve women––
promoted her business with the
and everybody else, since people of every gender and identity,
phrase “If you want something done
it turns out, needed a place that focused on comfortable
right, do it yourself,” Joani died at
communication, correct information, and good-quality sex-
home, with family and her beloved
related products. In many ways, that’s still GV’s mission in
dog Bapu at her side, on her own
a nutshell. Her first store was about the size of a postage
schedule. Just a couple of months
stamp, but it made room for a shelf full of antique vibrators
after California legalized physician-
(so her customers would understand that these handy
assisted suicide, Joani chose to treat
helpers had a much longer history than just as implements of
her symptoms palliatively but not the
the sexual revolution). This became the seed of the Antique
aggressive disease itself, whose poor
Vibrator Museum, of which I am today the proud curator.
prognosis and painful treatments
On July 14th many of the current core staff of Good
would have curbed her ability to enjoy
Vibrations gathered to honor Joani’s role in our lives
her last weeks of life. Her August 6
with more than two dozen past staff members, including
important colleagues from the 1980s and ’90s like Cathy
Winks and Anne Semans, who formed the heart of Joani’s
inner circle when I arrived at GV in 1990. Though rapidly
organized, word spread far and wide, thanks to the energies
of old-timers Shar Rednour, Deborah Mayer, and Samantha
Miller.
“I will miss Joani very much and am deeply sad about her
passing,” says Jackie Rednour-Bruckman, now executive VP
at Good Vibrations but originally a mid-1990s SESA. “She
was so vital and so ready to do so much more before cancer
took her way too fast and too soon. She was 79 but young at
heart and still had so much to say about everything and was
deeply involved in many social justice issues. I will treasure
her friendship forever––we had a special bond and I am
grateful forever to her loyalty and love and inspiration. I hope
I have made her proud.”
All of Joani’s many communities came together on July 30
at the First Unitarian Church in Oakland to celebrate her life.
Just down the street from her home in the Swan’s Market
Cohousing community, this was JB’s own congregation,
where she’d enjoyed singing in the choir and making
connections. She sat to the side, happily engulfed in love and
appreciation, as her beloved choir made music for her and
speakers from many sides of her world spoke up in tribute.
Other entities deeply important to Joani are cohousing; the
Human Awareness Institute; and the UU Church (which isn’t
surprising, given its own revolutionary track record on behalf
of sex education)––and someone was on hand from each of
these to talk about Joani’s participation and contributions.
Joani selected five organizations to which contributions
may be made in her name: Human Awareness Institute,
Democracy at Work Institute, Center for Sex & Culture,
Cohousing Association of the US and the First Unitarian
Church of Oakland.
Carol Queen has a PhD in sexology. She has worked at Good Vibrations since 1990. Her current position is staff sexologist and Good Vibrations historian. She also curates the company’s
Antique Vibrator Museum. She is also the founding director of the Center for Sex & Culture. Find more about her at CarolQueen.com.
WHO’S WHO
Alexis Grace Passes Away
at her home in Tampa, Fla. She was 27.
Veteran adult performer Alexis Grace died August 16
Grace’s fiancé, Jonathan, told AVN that her death
was from “natural causes,” but that her family was
awaiting a report from the medical examiner.
He said that paramedics were called to their home and
found Grace unresponsive. He said she had been dealing with
an asthma condition and had experienced trouble with her
breathing for the last few months.
“She was trying to keep it under control,” Jonathan said,
noting it was possible she had suffered an asthma attack.
Grace had just returned from Fetish Con in St. Petersburg,
Fla., and was excited about ramping up her work schedule.
“Everyone’s in complete shock and devastated right now,”
Jonathan continued. “She was just at Fetish Con as lively as
can be getting ready to make her comeback. She shot at Fetish
Con; she was talking to producers.”
Grace hadn’t shot for any major porn producers in about
a year, but was poised to get back into working for other
studios. She and Jonathan co-produced for their Bratty Babes
Own You store on Clips4Sale.com, focusing on pantyhose,
foot jobs and foot domination, among other fetishes.
“She was still actively doing fetish clips but she was
only doing our site and her site (AlexisGraceFetish.com),”
Jonathan said. “She was planning on going to AVN this year
and talking with a few agents out there.”
Grace, who was born in L.A. and raised in Florida, started
her porn career in 2008 at the age of 18. She performed in
almost 100 titles for several studios including Bang Bros,
Reality Kings, Hustler Video, Wicked Pictures, Evil Angel,
Brazzers, Lethal Hardcore, Amateur Allure and FM Concepts.
Jonathan continued, “She loved her fans and loved her
work. She was a perfectionist who always wanted to look her
best and perform her best. She cared about every person she
ever worked with. Her colleagues loved her. I loved her. She
was a caring, beautiful person inside and out who was never
disrespectful to anyone.
“And she was at a really good spot in her life right now.”
—Dan Miller
Photo courtesy PantyJobs.com
26 | AVN.com | 10.16