Bear Magazine

BEAR Magazine is a periodical specifically geared toward gay and bisexual men who are — or who admire — "bears", i.e., men with facial and/or body hair. It was initially published in San Francisco, California in 1987 by Richard Bulger and his partner Chris Nelson and marketed to the bear community within the larger LGBT community.

History

Beginnings

In San Francisco, in 1987, Richard Bulger began a self-xeroxed magazine called BEAR, dedicated to the appreciation of hairy, bearded, masculine gay men--something completely unrepresented at the time. Bulger had been running a modeling agency called Creative Options Agents (COA) with his photographer partner Chris Nelson. He saw a need for broader markets--and broader models. Thus, with his connection to gritty, edgy gay biker culture and proximity to the Lone Star Saloon; with the growing success of "'zine" desktop underground publication taking hold in San Francisco, Richard saw a unique opportunity. Common lore is that BEAR Magaine was begun by a man named Bart Thomas, who died of AIDS before the magazine was first published. In fact "Bart Thomas" was a pseudonym Richard Bulger chose for himself ("bart" being the German word for "beard") in the earliest days of the project. A good friend of Richard Bulger named David Grant was reported to have suggested the name "Daddy Bear" for this new magazine just before his death from complications from AIDS.