LOS ANGELES—Caryn Goldberg, 60, a veteran publisher of gay male erotica, has died. AVN learned of the sad news this afternoon after being notified by Colt Studio Group owner John Rutherford, who forwarded on the following announcement on behalf of Caryn's wife, Jane Lloyd:
It is with a heavy heart that we report that at 11:47am PDT we lost one of our most iconic leaders in the all-male industry. Caryn Goldberg, 60, originally from Brooklyn, New York, passed away peacefully and quickly at Valley Presbyterian Hospital after fighting a long battle with ovarian cancer. By her side was her wife, Jane Lloyd (20 years together), and close friends.
Those who knew her well for a long period of time knew her as… "The Feminist Lesbian Rises to the Top of the Gay Porn World.”
It started in the '70s, when she marched against pornography as a feminist. Caryn Goldberg ended up ironically years later as the president and publisher of Specialty Publications, the multimedia company that was home to the most successful gay consumer magazines, popular websites and movies.
In 1993, Goldberg started to sell ads for the Advocate and then Men (the flagship magazine started in 1984), Freshmen (the younger-themed success that started in 1991) and Classifieds, which had morphed into Unzipped magazine. Caryn later had this to say about her tenure at Specialty Publications, “Well, I met the most amazing people in the all-male industry who I really liked and I got to know ... it was nothing like I expected."
Goldberg was then offered the top job when Liberation Publications Inc. decided to spin off its adult lines into a separate company (Specialty Publications) in 2000, five years after serving as publisher for the magazines at LPI. It was at the same time the company started to develop its own websites, Menmagazine.net, Freshmen.com, and BuyGay.com and video production company, Unzipped Videos.
Once Specialty Publications was sold again, Caryn and wife Jane started their own consulting company, Minds Over Matter, and worked with many large players in the industry such as Zinio, UndercoverMags.com, and Skinmagz.com.
“She left her indelible stamp on the gay porn industry in that she got the major players to all work together in the early days of internet porn,” Jane said. Caryn was very proud to have known some of the most well-know industry leaders up-close and personally. She will be missed for her tough business style and her incredible negotiating savvy.
“I just made a deal with Caryn Goldberg!” “Oh really, do you still have your socks on?” was a common joke during her time.
In lieu of flowers, donations will be appreciated in Caryn's name to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
