Remembering longtime reader Mark S
By: Liam Campbell
Tags: Queer, Bibliophile, LGBTQ, LGBT, Gay

A few weeks ago I received a perplexing note from a guy called Mark S. It came to the customer service email for Elska Magazine, and it simply read, "Please cancel my subscription. I no longer want to receive." It struck me as odd — if the reason was because of a move, they could ask for a change of address; or if they simply didn't enjoy Elska, wouldn't they enquire about a partial refund perhaps? Then I noticed the subject line, which was written haphazardly — "cancel subscripyionm". In any case, I cancelled as requested, but then my curiosity got the better of me.

The name sounded familiar. It wasn't anyone I'd ever met, but I recognised the email as someone who was a longtime Elska supporter. First I popped his name and the name of his city, a small town in Texas, into Google. Instantly a Facebook profile popped up, and when I clicked it I saw the dreaded 'Remembering' tag at the top of his page. I then searched for an obituary and sadly it was confirmed that this longtime Elska reader had passed away on 6th November, 2020. He had just turned sixty years old.

A copy of the first edition of Elska Taipei

I also looked up his name in our order history, and found that his first Elska order came in May 2016, and it was the original edition of Elska Taipei. Instantly memories flooded back. We first released the Taipei issue just two days before I was due to fly to Japan, which was to shoot our future Yokohama issue. I was able to despatch the first orders before I left home, and then I filled half a suitcase with envelopes and more copies of Elska Taipei so I could post further orders directly from Japan. Mark's order came perhaps while I was on the plane, and I fondly remember packing his and other books along with my husband, who accompanied me on the Yokohama shoot trip, in our hotel room. I also remember our walk to the local post office, and trying to navigate how to fill out the international customs forms without help from any postal workers, none of whom spoke Japanese. I then distinctly recall popping into the Starbucks outside Sakuragicho train station to steal some WIFI so I could log on and send 'despatched' notifications to Mark and the other customers. Actually I remember that day amazingly well, which included our first shoot in Japan, with Wataru S.

Wataru S, shot on that first day in Yokohama, after going to the post office

Perhaps it's odd that I feel such loss for someone I never met. I suppose it just reveals to me how very much I appreciate all those who have supported my work, and how I feel something kind of familial about these most loyal Elska readers. That's why I'd fill a suitcase with books and take them to Japan rather than make any customers wait two weeks until I got home to despatch them. I never want to disappoint, and I never want to take any customers for granted. Nowadays, since some growth of Elska, we have a warehouse in Germany that despatches orders for us, but I still personally pack and send some shipments. I kind of like that personal touch. Perhaps some find it unprofessional, but that doesn't really bother me.

A collage of pages from various issues of Elska Magazine

I always fantasised about holding events where Elska readers can come together and chat, ask questions and just hang out. It's just never been feasible — most readers are spread all over the world, and I'm also quite shy about being in a large group. I would have loved to meet Mark S though. I could have told him about that day in Japan when I posted his first order, or at least thanked him personally for his support.

Mark's obituary says that he was huge bibliophile who had amassed a collection of over 20,000 books in his life. Because of this, his family asked that anyone wishing to send flowers would instead make a donation to their local library, or to PFLAG. I hope his Elska collection gets donated too, though I can't help but chuckle at the idea of someone discovering Elska at some little village library in Texas!

Liam Campbell is editor and chief photographer of Elska Magazine, a publication dedicated to travelling the world and introducing readers to a random sampling of local guys. Thirty-one issues have been released so far, and Mark S had managed to collect thirty of them.