The iconic Blueboy® magazine was founded in 1974 by Editor and Publisher

Donald N. Embinder.  

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Donald was born on July 8, 1935 to

Benjamin Embinder and Anna Embinder, née Beierlein.  The family lived in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan Island and later moved to Midtown; where Donald enjoyed spending countless Sunday mornings watching hockey games at Madison Square Garden.

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While attending Fieldston, a private college-preparatory school in Riverdale, he played both football and baseball.  An avid sports enthusiast, Don was a college letterman in soccer, tennis, football and baseball.

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After graduating Fieldston in 1952, Donald went on to attend the University of Rochester and in 1957, he earned a BA in Economics from Hunter College in NYC.  He received his MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Embinder's career began in 1959 as an advertising executive with Benton & Bowles. He created exciting campaigns for major product companies such as Proctor & Gamble.  Thereafter, he left the agency and served as an executive with TV Guide. 

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Donald moved to the historic district of Monkton, Maryland and from 1964 through 1969, worked for Towson University.  He served as Public Relations Administrator, Assistant Professor of Business Management and First Assistant to the President.   

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He later teamed with investors and established the first gay disco in Washington, D.C. 

Lost and Found encompassed 45,000 square feet and due to it's overwhelming success, Donald opened another disco.  This solo venture was to become Baltimore's legendary club ... The Hippopotamus.  Nearly 5,000 patrons visited the bar on weekends.  Donald divested himself of the club, however, The Hippo continued to be a staple in Baltimore gay nightlife and remained in business for over four decades.           

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Looking for a change of scenery and a new adventure, Donald moved to Miami.  With an interest in magazines, he entered into the publishing world as an advertising manager for After Dark; an arts magazine with a substantial gay readership.  

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After leaving the magazine, he decided to create a publication for gay men that would be sophisticated, inclusive, design savvy and unapologetically meet the needs of the readers.

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Mr. Embinder came across a small black and white journal called Blueboy.  He purchased the journal and soon after reinvented it as a full color glossy magazine we know and love.

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Blueboy® debuted in 1974 and touted itself as, "The National Magazine About Men," a tag line the publication maintained for decades.  The inaugural cover was a playful parody of the Blueboy painting by 18th century master Thomas Gainsborough. By the fourth issue, Embinder was the first gay magazine to secure national distribution and the success of Blueboy® lead to a new visibility for Mr. Embinder. 

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Blueboy® quickly established itself into a lifestyle brand due to Embinder's experience with product advertising campaigns.  Various extensions of the magazine included an array of personal accessories, clothing, beauty products and home furnishings. The magazine's outreach included branded ventures such as Blueboy Library, a collection of gay themed novels and

Blueboy Forum; the nation's first regularly scheduled, commercially sponsored gay television series.  Blueboy Forum was produced by Brian Wedekind and debuted on October 25, 1976 on WKID-TV UHF Channel 51 in Hallandale Florida.  The show also aired as a late-night Manhattan talk show on UHF Channel 68.  Interested in furthering community engagement in large cities,  Embinder published regional LGBTQ nightlife magazines titled Knight Life in both NYC and LosAngeles.

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His collaborative ventures were just as rich and diverse as the pages of his magazines.  Donald spent his free time at town meetings across the country in support of Gay Pride events and as a speaker on equal rights for the LGBTQ community.  These included

Town Meeting I - held at Houston's Astroarena.  It was the first organizational meeting to establish a national gay lobby.  Embinder served as a founding board member of The Gay Rights National Lobby would later emerge as The HRC (Human Rights Campaign)  His support of the community shined through in political endeavors such as this and his role as a publishing consultant to The Gay & Lesbian Review.  

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Donald even served as Executive Producer to several music singles released by dance artist Steven Paul Perry and published The Daily Dope.

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Other gay men's magazines soon followed.  Embinder published the wildly successful titles Torso, Numbers, Jock and Stars.  The gay market wasn't his only foray into magazines. He created For Women Only, geared to a straight female audience and marketed for its lifestyle columns and male pictorials.  

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Blueboy® was a pioneering national men's lifestyle magazine that went from being sold at adult bookstores and gay bars to being front and center at pharmacies and mainstream book & magazine shoppes across the country. Features included lifestyle columns, film and music reviews, excerpts from nonfiction authors, lush original illustrations, celebrity interviews, discourse on politics and gay rights, gay popular culture and of course ... handsome nude male models.

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Noted contributors, artists and interviews included Andy Warhol, Truman Capote,

William S. Burroughs, Edmund White,

John Rechy, Patricia Nell Warren,

Christopher Isherwood, Randy Shilts,

Mel Odom, George Stavrinos,

Robert W. Richards and Emanuel Schongut. Blueboy® featured stories on Harvey Milk,

Ed Koch, Anita Bryant and the AIDS epidemic.

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Blueboy® paved the way for gay monthly publications. Its focus was on an affluent, urban gay market that extended its presence in unexpected places.  It was the first gay public corporation in the U.S. and traded on Wall Street.  The magazine even found its way into the opening lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, She Bop!  Blueboy's success made the magazine a template for which other gay magazines styled their content.  During it's heyday it was one of the largest selling gay magazines in the marketplace.   

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Blueboy® ceased operations with its final issue in December 2007.

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Drawing on the richness of over five decades, Blueboy® magazine returns in DECEMBER 2024 — celebrating its golden anniversary. 

 

Please visit our online store to reserve your copy of Blueboy® 50th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE.  

 

As we embark upon our work at The Blueboy® Archives & Cultural Arts Foundation, it is with deep gratitude that we thank Donald Embinder and Kenneth Gregory for their support.