Requiescat in pace.
Bradbear Lueckheide was a play partner turned kinky confidant. When I was called upon to put on demos (leather/kink/fetish demonstrations for events), I never even had to ask Brad, only give him a date to add to his calendar. There were even times when in my haste, I neglected to tell him what we would be doing. It didn’t matter.
The thing that was so powerful about our connection is that his trust for me was so complete, he never once questioned my outrageous ideas or whether something was safe. Brad knew that I took seriously my role as gatekeeper of the razor-thin path between hurt and harm. He knew that no matter how large the crowd, or how intricate the setting, once a scene started, the only thing that mattered was the energy between the two of us.
Bondage wasn’t a simple rope & handcuff show, it was an elaborate display of contortion, extended discomfort, and confinement. Tit torture wasn’t a pinch and a tug, it was being dragged across the stage by clamps before a climactic temporary piercing. Extreme restraint. Breath control. Hypnosis. If I thought it up, Brad was game.
In December of 1999, Brad came to me with a request for our next demo. He wanted to do a hot & heavy cigar scene with a construction worker theme. That 30 minute scene was to be our last. We lost Bradbear to complications following gallbladder surgery in early 2000, and I quietly retired from public performance.
Gary Herman Brad Lueckheide
March 5, 1956 – February 25, 2000