Publisher's Letter: A Material Boy

As a hard-working, fun-loving all-American young gay man in the 1990s, I surrounded myself with the trappings of the good life. Having just finished my first year of law school in Washington, DC in 1991, I rewarded myself with my first car. One I did not need but really wanted. It was a previously owned 1987 BMW 325i in mint condition. Black with a sunroof, it was a chic accessory to travel in style all over DC from Georgetown to Capitol Hill and everywhere in between.

During my second year of law school, I found a new apartment. I had already lived in a few deluxe DC apartments, but this one stood out. The owners, Bobby Gaines and Mikel James, sought someone to rent the second bedroom in their condo. The duplex condo occupied the top two floors of 1421 T Street, a picturesque brownstone in prominently gay Dupont Circle. Upon entering the condo, I was greeted by the sound of trickling water from an ornate fountain in the foyer. An iron spiral staircase led up to the second floor. Past the stairway, was a spacious living area 28-feet high from floor to ceiling.

The condo was decorated with an Egyptian motif. There was museum-quality Egyptian art everywhere. Ambesonne Print Fabric and Egyptian Hieroglyphs on Papyrus hung on the walls. A replica bust of Nefertiti displayed as a centerpiece. Within glass casings were Canopic Jars, replica Statue of Khufu, and replica Mask of Tutankhamun. My bedroom had a cutout overlooking the grand living room. The master bedroom had French doors that led to a back outdoor patio. Every room had a skylight. It was marvelous. Living in Dupont Circle meant I had walking access to every major chic boutique, restaurant and entertainment venue to mingle with other gay men. It was paradise.

A few years later, I had a few luxe relationships. I moved back to my native New York City and dated Alan Kleinfeld, a business owner who lived in the penthouse of a highrise condo in Fort Lee, NJ, of which he served as condo president. We were frequent weekend flyers to The Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, CA and became regulars at Micky’s gay bar on Santa Monica Blvd. It became a bimonthly routine of fly, party, brunch, repeat.

I later dated Guy Lanza, a successful lawyer and investor who ran his own practice and owned various properties he managed, including condos in Boca Raton. He would sometimes send a town car to pick me up at the law firm I worked at in Manhattan to fetch me over to his lavish estate in Old Tappan, NJ. We traveled frequently to his condo in Boca Raton, Fla. where we would take his boat down the Intracoastal Waterway and dock for lunch at Boca Landing, Shooters Waterfront, Coconuts, or Boatyard. In 2001, we traveled to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival. We flew first class and stayed at the Copacabana Palace in Ipanema Beach. We had a private car and driver as we explored the Rio de Janeiro gay scene and nightlife.

From then on, memorable experiences outweighed material wants. I traveled all over the world in my new career as a journalist. China, Greece, Turkey, even Pakistan. You haven’t lived until you’ve interviewed Pakistani drag queens sipping Chai tea at a dhabas (roadside cafe) in Islamabad.

These days, my high-end living is directly connected to my work, thanks to a career in high-end lifestyle magazines. With my current brand magazine, Embrace, I am graced with opportunities to cover the LGBTQ scene at the Fort Lauderdale 2021 International Boat

Show and at the Festivals of Speed Ocala at Ocala’s new crown jewel, the World Equestrian Center. I also had the good fortune to attend the NGLCC Back to Business Summit held at the luxurious The Diplomat resort in Hollywood, Fla. I mingled with the VIP of the LGBTQ business world. We recently welcomed our first-ever Fortune 100 company to the pages of Embrace, JPMorgan Chase, ranked 19 on the Fortune 500, thanks to the Summit. They join our other VIP advertising family at Embrace including, BMW of Ocala, Porsche of Ocala, Ocala Horse Properties, Equality MD based in Richmond, VA, Popwrapped Entertainment in Los Angeles, CA and Christian Iles Hair Care in Dallas, TX.

The finer things in life seem to always surround me; and I would not have it any other way.

John Sotomayor Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

john@sotomayormedia.com