Scott O'Hara

Scott O'Hara
Scott O'Hara, circa 1984
Born	John Robert Scott (1961-10-16)October 16, 1961 Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S.
Died	February 18, 1998(1998-02-18) (aged 36) San Francisco, California U.S.
Other names	Spunk

Scott O'Hara (October 16, 1961 – February 18, 1998) was an American pornographic performer, author, poet, editor and publisher. He rose to prominence during the mid-1980s for his work in such gay adult films as Winner Takes All, Below The Belt and In Your Wildest Dreams. O'Hara wrote four books: SeXplorers: The Guide to Doing It on the Road, Do It Yourself Piston Polishing (for Non-Mechanics), Autopornography: A Memoir of Life in the Lust Lane, and Rarely Pure and Never Simple: Selected Essays of Scott O'Hara, and edited and published the quarterly men's sex journal Steam and the cultural magazine Wilde.

O'Hara was born John Robert Scott on October 16, 1961 in Grants Pass, Oregon, one of seven children of Robert Hogue Scott and Martha Jane née Farwell. While the family lived modestly on the family farm, there was inherited wealth, and for much of his life Scott was supported by a trust fund. Scott was known professionally as "Scott O'Hara" or "Spunk" and used his professional name throughout his adult life. In an essay titled "A Dick by Any Other Name", O'Hara wrote: "I knew from an early age that I was a changeling. I spent the next eighteen years looking for my real name, and since I found it I have not pretended to be anyone else."

He first came to prominence when he was awarded the title "The Man With The Biggest Dick in San Francisco" in a contest in the early 1980s. That title became his trademark for the rest of his porn and professional career. Published measurement of his penis varies from 9.5 to 11 inches. From 1983 to 1988, he appeared in over twenty gay and bisexual-themed adult films and videos, several of which demonstrate his rare ability of auto-fellatio. In addition to his work in adult films, O'Hara starred in Making Porn, a play by Ronnie Larsen based on conversations by Larsen with Scott O'Hara.

He described his work in porn as "a sheer delight from the word go".

After he contracted HIV, offers to appear in porn ended. In 1991 he moved to Cazenovia, Wisconsin and started a new career as an author. He edited and published from 1993 to 1995 the quarterly men's journal Steam, "the intellectual review of public sex", intended to facilitate cruising. According to its first issue, Steam focused on "public and semi-public sex. Our purpose is to provide a sex-positive forum for subjects considered taboo by other mags. We are aware that many activities mentioned in these pages are illegal in many parts of the world, and we do not advocate unlawful activity". In an advertisement in Volume 2, No. 1, he further stated that the publication was "all about sex - all kinds of sex, but especially public, publicly-disapproved, exciting sex". Articles often featured rest room, park, and other risky sexual encounters, and every issue contained tips on cruising spots (public places to meet men for sex), with notes on their safety or lack of same.