My first ever interview: Dan Savage

Well, this goes in the "it can't hurt to ask" file. Dan Savage is the best advice columnists that's ever deigned to answer people's questions about STDs, whether to have unprotected anal sex or not (see below), and how to deal with husbands that want to wear diapers and be changed, in his column Savage Love. He's also an active and sometimes controversial figure in politics and culture. He's an author, editor, theater director, journalist and media pundit, among other things. He's been editor-in-chief and editorial director for Seattle's The Stranger, where he got his columnist chops years ago.
I sent Dan an email asking if I could conduct an email interview, and he immediately responded "Fire away!". So without further yammering, here's the goods (oh yeah: get Dan's books at Powells, say babyfight sent you, and support my favorite bookstore):

Babyfight: Where did you grow up? (Wikipedia has you moving from Madison to Seattle to start "Hey Faggot!", but doesn't go into a lot of detail about your childhood) What kind of surroundings did you live in (small town, big city, backwoods shack, etc)? Where did you go to school?

Dan Savage: I grew up on the northside of Chicago, in a neighborhood called Rogers Park (There's no apostrophe). I grew up in a two-flat that my great-grandfather owned, where my grandmother and mother grew up before me. It was a very Irish, very traditional childhood. Lots of aunts and uncles around, grandparents right downstairs, a big Catholic Church at one end of our block, a funeral home at the other, a bakery and a bar between. Everything we needed. I attended Catholic grade schools, two Catholic high schools, one public high school (I moved around a bit), then went to the U of I in downstate Illinois for college. After college I moved to Europe for a couple of years, then Madison, then Seattle....


What's it like being a dad?

It's like having a heroin problem. When it's good, man, it's total bliss. The best drug EVER. When it's bad, man, it's miserable -- you don't think it's possible to be more miserable, and you wonder why you ever picked up that needle.


Some people call you a polarizing figure, especially in Seattle and the Northwest. What would you say to that?

Some people are dumbfucks. Or is that too polarizing?
[Ed. Note: Not at all. ]


A while ago, you gained some considerable press coverage for the "santorum" campaign. What was the experience like? Are you still getting comment/media attention on that? Anyone else you can think of in the bully pulpit that deserves the treatment?

The santorum thing was poetry -- and it was as much my readers' doing as mine. A "Savage Love" reader suggested coming up with an new definition for santorum, and I was smart enough to recognize a good idea when I saw one and ran the letter. Then I sorted through suggestions from readers and ran their best suggested definitions and let the readers pick the winner. My readers decided on the winning definition -- "the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." It was a collective effort. I get all the credit, but all I did was facilitate -- and then promote the hell out of it, of course.

I get letters every day pointing me to stories about politicians or preachers that have said something stupid, and folks are always suggesting that I give these guys the "santorum" treatment too. I don't think lightening will strike twice, though. Maybe sometime -- maybe if Huckabee is the GOP nominee.


The Seattle P-I has an article about a modeling gig at the Gage Academy which you claimed "I'm coming starkers or I'm not coming at all." Did you model in the buff, or did you keep the duds on? What was the experience like? [Ed. Note: Model is not Dan.]

Oh, no. I stayed dressed. I don't like being naked in front of my boyfriend, for crying out loud. I just wanted them to think I was going to show up naked. I'd sooner lick the inside of #7 bus clean than stand before a room full of art students bare-ass naked.


Teen 'zine type fluff questions: Favorite music? Movies? TV? Comedians? Anything that comes to mind.

Love musicals, pop music that includes piano -- Elton John, Billy Joel, Scissor Sisters. Don't get to see many movies, being a parent. Loves me my John Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Maher.


Any new projects or exciting goings-on coming up?

Just focused on the Stranger right now -- the blog, the column, the three-picture deal.


[Meta-questions from Marie]

Have you ever answered a question in your column you were pretty certain was fake, just because it was funny/entertaining?

Oh, sure. A question just has to be plausible. I mean, every question is, for all readers save one, a hypothetical. I don't run bullshit for the hell of it, but if it's a really good, compelling question and yet I have my doubts... well, sometimes I run it anyway. Readers have to remember, though, that I see the entire letter, they see edited versions. Lots of corroborating detail is omitted due to space limitations. And since the mail all comes via email I can get in touch with people who email me very easily. Sometimes a letter seems incredible but after an email exchange and perhaps a phone call, I'm convinced and I run with it.


What surprises you most about the positive/negative reactions you get? (I don't know whether the positive reaction angle or the negative reaction angle would be more interesting..haha)

What surprises me most is that people seem to think that sending me a nasty email is going to make me cry. Uh... gee. I've been at this a while, and whatever you throw at me, well, I've probably heard worse by now, you know? Don't like my advice? Think I'm a jerk? Well, fine. Read someone else, or get your own advice column. No one has to read, no one has to ask for my advice.


Is there one thing you wish you never had to say in an answer again?

"Please stop having unprotected anal sex with strangers."

I have to say I'm completely blown away by Dan's willingness to fire off this quick interview for me, and his fast response. If you've never read his column, DO IT. Add The Stranger to your bookmarks. You can also set up iTunes to score the Podcast.

[Note: fingersniffing pic horked from the Onion AV Club without permission. It's by Misako Takashima. Just email me and I'll take it down! Don't sue! I'm poor!]