S4E8 - Debra, 71. Palo Alto

Fruitbowl: An Oral History of Queer Sex

You might assume you don’t have much in common with a 71 year old lesbian, but consider these three points: 1. Debra came of age at the dawn of the sexual revolution; 2. She’s a legend in the lesbian kink community and has some really fun kink play stories; 3. She is a total badass and a one of a kind human.

Growing up in famously liberal Palo Alto, Debra was a precocious young woman, hungry for knowledge but a proposal from a “perfect” boyfriend in her 20s felt premature so she broke his heart and dove into the deep end of California 70s counterculture at UC Santa Cruz. Soon she was exploring the GLBT club and her sexuality was confirmed when she saw a gorgeous woman step off her motorcycle and reveal her long, luscious hair.

Since then, it’s been one adventure after another: New York, Seattle, LA. And the adventure continues to this day. Debra recently decided to leave LA, move into a van and travel the country visiting friends and making new ones. Check out this link for Route 70+, a charming short film by Nina Penzhorn that illustrates Debra’s journey.

Her final advice: have as much fun sex as you can so you can look back on it fondly when you’re old.

Thanks to our post-production sponsor, the new SPACES app, powered by Hornet! Learn more about SPACES HERE.

This episode was edited by Bayley Boecker and mixed by Ryan Weadon. Rebecca M. Davis is the season 4 voice of Fruitbowl. Dave Quantic is the creator and host of Fruitbowl.

Submit your own story for inclusion in a future episode! Describe a sexy hook up or something you’ve learned about sex via SPACES, email or record a story via your phone’s voice memo app and email it to [e-mail].

Fruitbowl is produced independently without corporate media infrastructure or full time staff. Every interview is recorded in-person, on location in each interviewee’s home and production expenses including travel, accommodations, equipment rental are paid for out of pocket by Dave Quantic, FRUITBOWL’s creator.

The only consistent financial support (currently $286/month) comes from Fruitbowl’s Patreon community. Thanks to our new patron Jeremy. A minimum $5 monthly donation allows patrons early access to episodes, behind the scenes updates and Salad Tosser tier patrons ($10/month) receive access to exclusive video content that is not available to the general public. Learn more about how to become a patron at: https://www.patreon.com/fruitbowlpodcast

Larger donations and underwriting/advertising fees are 100% tax deductible through a partnership with Northwest Film Forum’s fiscal sponsorship program. FRUITBOWL RECEIVES NO DIRECT FUNDING FROM NWFF, only the use of their non-profit status to receive tax deductible donations. For more information check out: https://www.fruitbowlpodcast.com/donate

Tell your friends about Fruitbowl, rate us on your podcast platform or write a review on Apple Podcast. Every little bit helps. And, of course you can also follow us, for now, on twitter at Fruitbowlpod and Instagram and Tik Tok at fruitbowlpodcast.

Find out more about Rebecca M. Davis at https://www.instagram.com/stayuplateshow/

Fruitbowl’s fruit artwork was created by Patrick Stephenson of Bearpad! https://bearpad.storenvy.com/