Gay Porn Industry Mourns The Deaths Of Mark Nagel And Harlan Yaffe
Members of the gay porn industry are mourning the passing of two industry veterans today, Grab Magazine co-founder and Grabbys producer Mark Nagel (above, right), and former Pride Studios director turned The Sword blogger Harlan Yaffe (above, left).
Nagel was 57 years old, and per reports (including a message from Brent Corrigan, below), he suffered a seizure and subsequent fall that took his life yesterday. Yaffe, according to talent agent Howard Andrew, had been battling lung cancer for some time, and he also passed yesterday.
More on Nagel, from Chicago Pride:
A longtime resident of Chicago, Nagel was a veteran of the city’s LGBT press and avid supporter of numerous community causes and organizations. He was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 2017.
Starting in 1993, Nagel worked in several capacities at Gay Chicago Magazine prior to co-founding Grab, a biweekly publication, with Stacy Bridges in 2009.
Sister Roma and The Sword, where Yaffe—who used to direct and produce content for Pride Studios—had been blogging for the last four years, issued the below statement about his passing and the future of The Sword:
Harlan was an industry insider and huge NakedSword fan for many years. Everyone here was so excited when he agreed to become editor-in-chief of TheSword.com. Harlan’s can-do attitude and bright smile brought our regular Skype meetings to life.
A friend for more than 15 years, NakedSword/Falcon President and CEO Tim Valenti will miss Harlan dearly and only has laugh-out-loud stories and fond memories of his dear friend. We are preparing an official statement that will go out in a Press Release very soon but we wanted to let you, our loyal readers, hear it here first. There will be a transition period but we will do our best to keep you apprised of everything happening in the world of porn and beyond. In the meantime please stick with us, we know Harlan is. Rest in Peace dear friend.
Performers, directors, and studio owners shared their thoughts on Nagel and Yaffe throughout the day, and Str8UpGayPorn joins them in sending love to the family and friends of Nagel and Yaffe today.
Allow me to pay my respects to Mark Nagel, who helped build @Grabbys into the beacon it is today: https://t.co/Pm5Na4BOPv pic.twitter.com/fQhjs9T7Wz
— Brent Corrigan (@BrentCorrigan) February 5, 2019
