John Willie: A Bizarre Life

This illustrated and deeply researched biography uncovers the captivating life, groundbreaking work, and enduring legacy of John Willie, the celebrated mid-20th-century fetish artist, publisher, and sexual pioneer. With his iconic art and the groundbreaking content of his Bizarre magazine, John Willie is perhaps the person most responsible for introducing fetish style to the mainstream. Illustrated with examples of John’s work, this in-depth exploration shines the spotlight on the man behind the drawings of buxom beauties and the photographs of expertly executed erotic bondage, delving into • his early life from his 1902 birth in Singapore as John Coutts through his childhood in England, education, military service, immigration to Australia, and employment as a seaman and laborer; • the chance encounter with a network of high-heel fetishists that incited John’s discovery of his community and his calling in the world of erotic art; • his relationship with model, wife, and muse Holly Faram; • his move to the United States and his place in the mid-20th-century fetish scene populated by artists, publishers, editors, and models such as Charles Guyette, Robert Harrison, Edythe Farrell, Irving and Paula Klaw, Bettie Page, and Eric Stanton; • the debut of his groundbreaking Bizarre magazine in 1946, through which he created a space for like-minded people to share and celebrate fantasies—from high heels and cross-dressing to blindfolds and bondage—that the mainstream world found “bizarre”; • his career-long struggles against the forces of governmental oversight; • and how the murders by so-called “Glamour Girl Killer” Harvey Glatman—who posed as a bondage photographer to lure his victims—helped spur John’s eventual disillusionment with the world of fetish art he helped build. Ahead of his time, John's influences can still be seen in the worlds of art and fashion, and he was an advocate for freedom of expression in dress, gender identity, and sexuality—issues that are still hotly debated today. Drawing heavily from John’s extensive interactions with researchers at the Kinsey Institute, Garrett provides a close-up portrait of the artist whose ideas have fed the erotic fantasies of generations of people.