Polite Porn Pioneer Passes

My ATOMIC TV cohort Scott Huffines sent me a newsgroup posting about the sudden passing of Peter van Aarle, curator of the Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) and co-founder of rec.arts.movies erotica (RAME), on September 18, 2005, after suffering a heart attack at his home in The Hague, Holland. He was 42.


Peter van Aarle




As Scott recalled, we met this guy, who was very polite and very passionate about his area of expertise, at one of the RAME parties held during the East Coast Video Show in Atlantic City, NJ, back in late Nineties or early Naughties (1999? 2000? I have no memory!) Scott recalled talking to Peter about van Aarle's sexual tryst with potty-mouthed porn starlet Christi Lake (who partook in what the Adult film industry calls "Fan Fuxx" and who I recall being quite the bitch!), while I recall talking obsessively with the Netherlands native about Dutch soccer and the woes of the national team (love the Orange!).


Peter and Christi sat in a tree...

The RAME site came on-line in its present incarnation and its present address in 1999. According to the RAME obit posting, van Aarle explained his goal for the site in an e-mail: I basically want the IAFD to be the definitive porn movie database on the web. I've spent the past 18 years compiling this data, and I want all of the credit :-). The credit is all his."

Indeed so. Covering 52,428 titles and 38,919 performers and directors, the IAFD became the premier resource for information about the straight porn community on the web.

The RAME newsgroup adds, "The IAFD will continue, in his memory. Volunteers have begun assembling updates. It will take us a little time to ramp up and try to fill the void left by Peter, but we promise to do our best."

Porn Pioneers



Ralph Whittiker, The King of Porn




Peter van Aarle's passing made me think of another great obsessive archivist and pioneering porn spirit, Ralph Whittiker, The Librarian of Porn. Whittiker, who retired from the Library of Congress in 2000, was the star of King of Porn (1996, 6:39 minutes), one of cult director Jeff Krulik's most fascinating short documentaries (available on the video compilation The Films of Jeff Krulik and Friends, which is available from Baltimore's official Planet Krulik distributor, Atomic Books). In 2002, King Ralph emptied out his castle, donating his smut collection to New York City's Museum of Sex.

Reamed at RAME
We actually got kicked out of the RAME party by some sleazoid porn producer snob (Jim Gunn?). This guy actually thought he was something more than just an upscale pimp/glorified smut peddler with a fashion sense laughable by even Mafia standards...He said you had to be an industry insider or a hot chick to stay. Not fitting those criteria, we got the boot. It's a shame, because the guest ledger was quite A-list and I think they shot a scene there that night. If memory serves me well, the soiree was at the Showboat Casino. There was even a couple from Baltimore, Brent and Blondie, and local hero Jeff "King of Porn" Krulik. The party was hosted by RAME friends director Luc Wylder and his wife Alexandra Silk (born in Ocean City, Maryland!), who unabashedly plugged her Website by passing out cookies adorned with her photo and the bon mots "Eat my cookie!" There was also someone named Count Spankula! According to RAME, other celeb attendees included:

• Nina Hartley (nina.com)


• Shayla LaVeaux (shayla.com)


• Ron Jeremy (ronjeremy.com)


• Taylor Hayes (Vivid)


• Christi Lake (ChristiLake.com)


• Doctor X, Photographer (AVN)


• Mike South (mikesouth.com)


• Dirty Bob (dirtybob.com)


• Jim Gunn (jimgunn.com)


• Rodney Moore (rodneymoore.com

At last year's East Coast Video Show, redubbed the Home Entertainment Retail Expo and held in Baltimore, we actually saw the sleazoid producer who kicked us out of the RAME party. He had a cigar in his mouth. And he was still sleazy.

Thank God for the good guys like Ralph and Peter. Pioneering pervs with passion and perserverence.