Sean, Hollywood 1987

The first time I met Sean he tried to pick me up outside the Greenwich Village Pizzeria on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood back in the summer of 1990. I was new to town and Sean asked me if I wanted to come home with him. I admit I was intrigued but I was with a friend visiting from back home so I just laughed his invitation off wondering who this tattooed love boy thought he was to be so forward. Truth be told I was scared of him. But as the months went by we'd keep running into each other at bars and parties and eventually I had to admit that I wanted to know what he was all about. I'd never met anyone like him before -- so quiet and mysterious -- and never have I since. I experienced many of my "firsts" with Sean -- my first ride on the back of a Harley being one of the safer activities he introduced me to. I remember I had stayed over at his converted-garage apartment near the Beverly Center and he loaned me a Mr. Bubble T-shirt to wear before we headed out on the road that afternoon (that must have been a sight). Everywhere we'd go there was a buzz that surrounded Sean. He wasn't a movie star or anything, but you'd never know it by the way people fell over when he walked into a room. It wasn't until years later when I'd moved to the East Coast that I came across this photo in the famous "Men/Women" book by Herb Ritts that I realized Sean had a lot of things going on besides periodically showering me with affection. ("You know what I love about your body?" he asked me of my 138-pound frame in the shower one day. "Your arm is the same size here as it is here," he said, placing his strong right hand around my bicep and then my wrist.) After not seeing him for nearly a decade I ran into him at the Abbey a few summers ago. A lot had happened in the ensuing years, but we shared a special moment where he opened up to me more than he ever had before, and that helped me close a mysterious chapter of my life. I hope he's doing well today. He deserves to be happy.

Check out Sean in Herb Ritts' iconic photo "Male Nude With Bubble" after the jump.