The Purple Pages

The Purple Pages is a collection of over 20 Starsky & Hutch RPS stories written in the mid-to-late 1970s and early 1980s and privately circulated amongst fans. Their name is a reference to the fact that the stories were printed on purple paper (for context, see The Purple Paper Element).
They are one of the first known, confirmed examples of RPS fan fiction in media fandom. 
For decades, recipients of "The Purple Pages" were told to never discuss them or to acknowledge that Starsky & Hutch RPS existed. The secrecy was necessary as many fans of the time were very much opposed to RPS. Feelings about it often ran high; some fans were violently against the concept and other fans supported it by writing and reading it. While this anonymity and discourse likely made it more exciting and interesting to the participants, it also meant that the Starsky & Hutch contribution to the RPS genre went unrecognized for decades.
For more examples, see Starsky & Hutch RPF.
==The Purple Paper Element==
At the time the stories were written, fan fiction was still being typed on typewriters. Photocopiers were not widely available so most fans copied stories by retyping them, which was a time consuming process. The creators of "The Purple Pages" knew this but also wanted to prevent those few fans who might have access to photocopiers from reproducing them. Thus the stories were typed on purple colored paper as the photocopy machines of that time would create copies that were black or grey unreadable sheets.
==Distribution==
"The Purple Pages" were never published or compiled into any collection and were distributed much like the early circuit stories in the Professionals fandom. 
 
The authors never put their names on the stories for future anonymity and originally only sent the stories to one another through the mail. Of course, some writers shared the stories with close friends sworn to secrecy who then shared with others under equally strict secrecy. 
Some copies were included in the envelopes of the Starsky & Hutch letterzine S and H of those who had expressed interest. 
In 1982, a few fans compiled a small subset of the stories into a packet called the Purple Banana Underground Stories.
==Some Media Context==
Most of the history of "The Purple Pages" is still unknown. Some of the stories were written while Starsky & Hutch was still on the air (1975-1979). The show became a hit and was widely popular among the mainstream press, and Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul were prominently featured in just about every movie magazine and tabloid of the era. The actors' extremely close friendship, unusual for two leading actors, was often discussed in articles at the time. It was common for talk shows to make jokes about Starsky and Hutch's relationship, and whether the two characters were gay was written about in some of the popular media of the day.
==Titles==
Here is a list of some of the known stories:
*Call Me
*Mid-Continent Morality (also in Purple Banana Underground Stories)
*Onstage, Offstage
*Territorial
*Pain and Joy, C.O.D.
*Soulmate
*Jelly Beans and Coors
*Anything, Lover . . . Almost
*Abstinence is Good for the Soul
*After the Party
*Ma Bell (also in Purple Banana Underground Stories)
*Memories
*Breakfast in Bed (also in Purple Banana Underground Stories)
*A Calm Place
*Cab Stand
*Birthday Boy
*And for Dessert
*Lo Siento Mi Vida
*Valentine's Eve
*Christmas Call
*Untitled Story
==Some Fan Comments==
===1985===
Paula Smith referenced a "secret letterzine" in Starsky & Hutch fandom in The Paul Muni Special program book, possibly referring to "The Purple Pages":
===1994===
===2015===
===2018===
==References==
Category:Actor RPF Fanfiction
Category:Starsky & Hutch Fanfiction
Category:Starsky & Hutch RPF
Category:1970s Fanfiction
Category:1980s Fanfiction
Category:2022 Featured Articles