Paul Wisner \nLOS ANGELES - Adult publishing titan Paul Wisner had spoken softly of his longtime friend Stanley Fleishman when that legendary First Amendment attorney died toward summer's end. It was no mannerism struck from grief. In the immediate wake of Wisner's death Wednesday in Germany at 75, those who knew him well described a mild-mannered, gentle man who loved to talk yet walked softly within himself.
"Paul understood the adult magazine market probably better than anybody ever did or ever will," says Video Team's Chris Mann. "And he ran the business with a gentility and a calm demeanor that is not really characteristic of the adult industry."
"It's the end of an era," says Ron Braverman of Doc Johnson, the adult novelty business, remembering his longtime friend as a man who was always ready to help anyone. "Paul was one of the pioneers of the business, a wonderful man with a big and kind heart, and he was always the gentleman."
A former bookmaker in New York, Wisner came to California k in the 1960s to join his brother, Bernard, at London Press. Within a short time, Wisner was taking on several publishing operations, including Parliament News, World News, London Press, and Gourmet Publishing, where he had been until his death.
"He gave basically everything to his children and treated his peers with love and respect," says David Sturman of Bay Management-General Video. "I don't think anyone ever really disliked him...(h)e's of the old school when it comes to the porn business, probably one of the last of the original people in the industry as we know it. Very unassuming - and he needed to be."
"He was very low-key, very dignified," says Mann, who met Wisner during his childhood, Mann's father having known and worked with him. "He was a bit of an intellectual, and he would love just sitting down with someone and regale (them) with about two hours worth of memories, of history, the arts, entertainment. People who worked for him stayed with him for decades."
Braverman says Wisner was one of the first to take on censorship and other pertinent issues which the adult business needed to address. "Paul (was) really like the end of the real era of those people who stood up and fought for what they really, really believed," says Braverman, who knew Wisner for thirty years.
"I'm sorry to say that he's not here to actually to tell you the stories himself," continues Braverman, shaken by Wisner's passing, "because the stories are now, unfortunately, lost forever. He was a fabulous raconteur. He could tell stories better than anybody else could ever tell a story, and he had this phenomenal memory for stories, for detail. And he was always able to add this slant of humor to any story he told, regardless of how serious it was."
Funeral arrangements were not known as this story was written, but Wisner's body is expected to be returned to Los Angeles for a possible Monday funeral, depending upon administrative factors being cleared in Germany.
