Luke Ford: The Mr. Skin Interview

How long have you been doing what you do--i.e., covering the porn industry from your unique perspective?
About a decade, with a year or so off here and there.

In a sentence (or two), please sum up exactly what your unique perspective on the porn industry is.
I believe that we have an eternal soul and that we can tarnish it through bad behavior. I believe that there is one law ruling the universe and it is physical and moral. I believe that we are rewarded and punished for our behavior, both in this world and in the world to come.

How did you get into this line of work?
I looked for a subject for a book that would make a big splash. That book evolved into A History of X.

It turned out I was born for blogging along with, says my friend Chaim Amalek, wearing an aluminum beanie to receive my directions from outer space.

You see porn as detrimental to humanity and an affront to God. So what is your attraction to it? For some reason, you cannot stay away. What's that about?
A - I need to expose what is going on so the authorities can better control things.
B - I need to make a living, and given my personality I'm basically unemployable.
C - I devote myself to saving fallen women.

In the past your skirmishes with porn mavens bordered on terrifying--they involved death threats, physical assaults, and numerous other forms of harassment. Of late you don't seem to be treading on the same degree of thin ice. Is this perception accurate? If it is, how do you account for this? Have you changed? Has the industry changed? Is it both? Is it something else?
Yes, that perception is accurate. I am older and wiser. The people I write about have a better grasp of who I am and what I do. I take less relish these days in provoking life-threatening situations. The industry is more professional.

Who have been the craziest, most frightening people in porn you've had to deal with?
[Former Hustler Erotic Video Guide editor] Mike Albo.

Who have been the most amusing?
Mike Albo.

You recently mentioned a new devotion to 1980s pop star Deborah Gibson but have thus far not elaborated. Please elaborate.
After years of strife, our mutual adoration of Deborah Gibson gives Mike Albo and I something to bond over--aside from our fervent support for Chicago noise-rock madmen Gays in the Military.

What's so great about Air Supply? Is their music an aphrodisiac? Is it good to make love to?
Air Supply articulates my most innermost thoughts and feelings. My thoughts and feelings may be pathetic but they're mine and nobody sings them like Air Supply.

What was the first adult film you ever saw? How did it happen and how did you react to it?
I led a group of three guys down the tenderloin--Broadway Avenue in San Francisco--in the summer of 1983. I was desperate to see the real thing. I led us into an adult store and we found the loop machines in the back and started pouring down quarters. It was amazing stuff. I don't remember the names of the first titles I saw. I saw about four X-rated films before beginning my book. One was The Devil in Miss Jones (Picture: 1 - 2) and another was Debbie Does Dallas IV.

It was mainly magazines like Penthouse that haunted me from age sixteen to eighteen. After that, I buried my frustrations in my work and studies. I finally lost my virginity at age twenty-one.

Aside from some days between sixteen and eighteen, I've never had an addiction to porn. That's defined by me as spending more than an hour a day on the stuff. Shortly after watching fifty-plus films for my first book, its hold on me as a product was gone forever.

The exception is fleeting moments on MrSkin.com--that stuff is crack cocaine for a guy who remembers keenly his first R-rated movies such as My Tutor (Picture: 1 - 2 - 3) and Spring Break.

I may be addicted to the great stories, the heart-breaking honesty you get from some people in porn. In some ways, porners are the most willing to spill of any group I've met.

Besides Kitten Natividad, who are your favorite adult entertainment performers of all time? Who have you been most attracted to?
Desire Cousteau and early Marilyn Chambers (Picture: 1 - 2). I usually think I'm immune to the allure of porn, then I'll meet someone who briefly shakes me up before I retreat into my moral armor.

When you were growing up, what line of work did you think you'd go into?
I thought I'd be a TV sports reporter or news anchorman.

How has your family reacted to the line of work you're in?
It's been better since 2001. I've written three books--one a memoir of my lukeford.com days, one on Jewish journalism, and one on Hollywood producers. I've also done a ton of work that has nothing to do with porn.

Do you think you'll ever change to a different career? Would you want to? What would it be?
I want to keep doing meaningful work similar to my Jewish journalism and producer books and my LukeFord.com interviews with various authors.

What was the first non-adult movie nude scene you remember seeing? How did you come to see it?
I was seven years old and staying with my grandparents in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was a BBC series on Queen Elizabeth. She got out of bed and walked around nude. My mom clapped her hands over my eyes.

What's next for the Luke Ford empire?
YourMoralLeader.com

images of Luke Ford all courtesy of LukeFord.net