Last week's report by AVN editor Heidi Pike-Johnson, announcing the opening of the Alex de Renzy Library in San Francisco, this coming Friday -- the twelfth -- probably marks its level of anticipation about where some of us figured: packed to the tits.

Although this is another exclusive industry event, there's never been anything like this before. It's more than just another big-ass party; we're paying homage to one of our own.

Alex de Renzy is the Babe Ruth of our game. And while some of his records may never be broken, both professional pornographers and the public will have the opportunity to discover even more about both the man and the industry he helped to build.

The Life and Times of Alex de Renzy is the result of Alex's younger widow donating thousands of films, memorabilia and artifacts from his body of work to the Exodus Trust Archive, which will be maintained and housed by the Institute of Advanced Studies on Human Sexuality.

I was very close to Alex, and we spent many days together at his home and place of business up in Marin County, planning and shooting the films and videos we shot together. And when his wife, Carole, told me that Alex could never throw anything away, she wasn't exaggerating; the place was packed with his stuff. And when you come to think about that, it's understandable; there's no place to dump porn without the risk of getting busted.

And if you think his stuff was outrageous when it played in theatres back in the seventies, imagine the stuff he had to leave out. Well, you'll be able to see some of that stuff, too.

Fuck, imagine an industry that had fewer "no-nos" when we first started putting porn out on the market; in those days it was so risky to play porn in the first place that there was less reason to clip out some of the things Alex shot. You were either busted or you weren't. What's another enema scene, especially if it's hilarious, right?

Next, imagine how far we've come -- just having this kind of archive dedicated to preserving erotic heritage is amazing in itself. For example, the showing is going to be running Alex's earlier films throughout the exhibit in several rooms. If any readers show up for this event, try to catch a screening of Alex's Passion Princess; it's a short film that runs only about fifteen minutes, that exhibitors all over the country wanted to run with its other films, all through the mid-seventies, until it just became too risky to play. If you think Max Hardcore makes 'em look young, take a look at Alex's statement on young, inexperienced and eager little girls wanting to pleasure an older guy.

The following Saturday and Sunday -- December 13 and 14 -- both the public and anyone in the business that missed out on the opening will be able to tour the display.

If you're not a player in the business, don't even try to get in on Friday. And anyone in the game that still doesn't know who the fuck Alex de Renzy was -- you're not in the right game.

This is how the big league got started.