Staggs, Sam

Sam Staggs, magazine editor, was editor-in-chief (1982-84) of Modernismo Publications, Ltd. (MP) publishers of Mandate, Honcho, and Playguy, popular gay men's magazines. MP was founded in 1974 by George Mavety with the publication of Dilettante, a short-lived popular arts magazine which was discontinued, due to an economic recession and declining advertising revenues, in March of 1975. The following month its successor, Mandate, appeared on the newsstands under the editorship of John Devere. Unlike Dilettante which was aimed at a more general audience, Mandate was conceived as a magazine of erotica, news and entertainment for gay men. Each monthly issue, in addition to exhibiting artistic displays of male nudes and erotic fiction, contained reviews of books, motion pictures and sound recordings of interest to the gay community and reported on social, political and cultural events related to the movement for gay liberation. By the time Sam Staggs succeeded to its editorship (following that of Joseph Arsenault who had succeeded Devere as editor) Mandate claimed a circulation of over 100,000 and enjoyed a reputation as the most important men's magazine in America.

As editor-in-chief Staggs strove hard to raise the intellectual level of Mandate. His dream was to make it the gay equivalent of Playboy, a magazine read by a sophisticated, affluent and well-informed audience who would appreciate it not only for its nudity but for its editorial content and the high quality of its interview and entertainment features as well. Staggs cultivated close and cordial relationships with his writers, gently correcting and advising them on matters of literary substance and style while encouraging the more talented to make more ambitious contributions. Staggs' main editorial effort went into the production of Mandate. Honcho which contained more "hard-core" material appealed to an audience interested primarily in erotica, while Playguy with its "twinkle fiction" appealed to the youth market.