In the 1990s there were no such things as ‘blogs’ yet. Or if they were, the people really interested in doing them were too poor to afford a PC. In the alternative music/culture scene (leftovers of punk and industrial, leather lovers and tattoo and piercing addicts) the ‘zine (shortened from ‘fanzine’) rose as a form of expression for new artists, photographers, writers and thinkers.
One of the Chicago queer scene ‘zines was called Babble, which then became Gag and was published out of the loft of Malone Sizelove. I fell in love with Malone the first time I saw and photographed him around 1992 on the shore of Lake Michigan. I started writing a column for his ‘zine under a pseudonym. Malone’s site and company doesn’t exist anymore, and Gag was sued out of existence just as Babble was (by some bar owners who didn’t like his slagging them off) and was re-named Gab (which I think was also sued) and Malone and I had a lover’s spat type of falling out so I stopped writing for them … no it wasn’t about him not fucking me – it was over something else. Apparently Malone died in January 2008 in a car accident in the Bronx NY (according to commenters here). If this is true, it’s very sad. R.I.P. Malone – I will always have that school girl crush on you.
I have decided to re-print my columns here for ‘posterity’ in case anyone is interested, and because they were just damned good fun to write and read.
I also wrote (using the same psuedonym of Fire Chick) a fun review of Madonna’s book ‘Sex’ for the winter 92/93 ‘zine Thing, which was published by Robert T Ford (RIP).
Enjoy.
- Fire Chick reads Sex – Thing winter 92/93
- Suck My Clit By Fire Chick – Gag 5 Aug/Sept 92
- Suck My Clit By Fire Chick – Gag 6 Sept/Oct 92
- Suck My Clit By Fire Chick – Gag 7 Nov/Dec 92
- Suck My Clit By Fire Chick – Gag 8 Jan/Feb 93
- GB Jones Interview – Babble (circa 1992-93 exact date unknown)
Other contributors to Gag and Babble most issues included:
Steve Lafreniere (writer, editor, arts scenester and eternal discoverer, then living in Chicago) Robert Coddington (Musician and video curator) Gabriel Gomez (videographer and Queer National) Hi-Fi Bangalore (original promotor of the Boom Boom Room deep house at Red Dog 1992-2003)
October 17, 2007 at 12:26 |
I went to school with Malone… any idea where he is now?
October 20, 2007 at 14:44 |
Hi Kris, I believe he’s still in Chicago though I am not entirely certain. We lost touch and I moved away from Chicago some time ago. I tried searching for the names of the ‘zines and his graphic design company on Google a few months back and got no current hits.
November 8, 2007 at 16:56 |
We think he is living in central Illinois (Bloomington/Normal area), but his wife (Donia) is still in Chicago according to sources. If it is the same Malone Sizelove.
November 9, 2007 at 22:19 |
Wow that would be an interesting life switch.
March 16, 2008 at 0:42 |
Malone died in a car accident in the Bronx in Jan/08 from what I heard from his friend.
March 17, 2008 at 9:47 |
How sad – I did not hear about that. If you have any links to obituaries please let me know.
March 26, 2008 at 4:00 |
Malone and i were good friends for years … We were roomies at NYU for 2 years … and his death was a great shock to me. Who knew Donna Karan was his Godmother and Irving Penn his Godfather? He was very private but at the same time so open and sincere. If you are xxxxxxx (edit by Musingsofabittergirl … because you guessed it … ) , you should know he spoke very highly of you … at one point he said to me you were the most gifted writer he’d encountered in Chicago.
March 31, 2008 at 9:47 |
Michael – I am so sorry to hear that he really did die in a car accident. Thanks for posting. He was so fun to work with, talk with, hang with (and threw amazing parties!) and gave me excellent breaks and published my writing – what more can you ask for ? We lost touch when I didn’t deliver a car load of Gag ‘zines to a few bars on time because I was too busy with photo shoots, and he rightly got mad and me
– so stupid! Well the ‘zine scene was on it’s way down then, and the internet was the up and coming thing so I suppose it was just ‘time’. R.I.P. Malone …
July 2, 2008 at 1:11 |
Malone gave a lot of us our start in the writing world … (Ask Sedaris!) I appreciate his insight & talent. Also we shouldn’t overlook his importance of the inception of TimeOut/NY, et. al. And his graphic design sense was so far ahead of its style … in the mid-90s… w/o Photoshop… by his own choosing! A talent to be missed for sure. Thanx Malone for allowing me to be part of ur world and allowing me the confidence to become the writer I am today! U were a very special dude whom I often thought full of shit, only to be humbled once I was proven way wrong. Thanks for all of the introductions … u were so special to so many… u have no idea my friend!
August 25, 2008 at 22:39 |
love ur site and enjoy your columns! Could u please not have my full name posted, just my first name and last initial. I would really appreciate it!!
August 26, 2008 at 0:38 |
Hi Brian – no problem! Thanks for your great comments!
October 25, 2008 at 19:59 |
Lovely comments Brian, but you’re way off on a couple of things. First off, as far as I know Malone isn’t dead and is living outside of Bloomington Il. Also David Sedaris never wrote for Babble or Gab. I was his boyfriend for several years during which he launched his writing career. By the time Babble came about he was already living in NYC and Ira Glass was courting him to be on NPR after seeing him at Millies Orchid Show, plus I was writing a cartoon for Babble and would have known if David was writing for them. So sorry, Malone had nothing to do with starting David’s career. But it’s great to see anything about Babble/Gag out there. It was a special time for Chicago, and me, and Malone was a huge part of it.
October 27, 2008 at 18:19 |
Hi Chuck,
Two people seem to think he has died in a car accident in the Bronx. I could not find any obituaries on line but then again not everyone dies online. However … it would seem pretty strange to me for Malone to be married to a woman and living in Bloomington but stranger things have happened. Just please don’t tell me he’s also turned to God and joined a Christian cult or some other such rubbish …
Sedaris and I were in the same classes at SAIC in the early 80s and as far as I know he was not writing for Gag or Babble when I wrote for them in the 90s. But I also didn’t personally know every contributor to that magazine (don’t remember meeting you though I remember your cartoons … ). Certainly, there was nothing I recall in any Gag or Babble issue that was close to David’s style of work, and I clearly remember him performing at Lower Links and Millie’s Orchid show and just starting to get play on NPR too. Thanks for that clarification on one point, but tossing a world of confusion in at the other end. I’ll be happy if Malone is still alive and kicking …
November 7, 2008 at 0:21 |
Hi Bittergirl, Malone is not dead, and is certainly alive and kicking. He has not turned to God, nor joined a cult or done any crazy 180’s. He lives near Bloomington and works for a local airline. Out of respect for his privacy I won’t elaborate on his marital status, but he’s the same old Malone. I haven’t spoken to him in about a year, but a mutual friend of ours talks to him weekly, and cracked up when I asked him if perhaps I missed something and Malone was dead. Hopefully this clears up any confusion.
November 7, 2008 at 16:17 |
Great news – I wonder where all the premature news of his demise came from – will probably take care of some of these odd comments then !
Thanks!
December 24, 2008 at 3:56 |
If Malone (mark) Sizelove is around I would love to make contact with him! He was one of my closest friends ever and I miss him. Malone, if you are checking in I miss Fairview, Chicago, drinking the 50.00 bag, and all the great times. Love ya!