O'Hara, who believed he contracted HIV in 1981, was battling lymphoma. O'Hara had been hospitalized for several days at San Francisco General Hospital, and was lucid and in little pain as he prepared for what he knew was his coming death. Friends and acquaintances spent the evening of the 17th and the morning of the 18th reminiscing, talking, and laughing with the performer, poet, and author. As Rick Winter, owner of Winter Publishing and a friend of O'Hara's, said, "Most importantly, we were able to express our appreciation for his friendship, his quick wit and his warmth as an individual." O'Hara requested to be taken back to his home, where he wished to die. He was transported there by ambulance on the afternoon of the 18th. Scott O'Hara suffered total renal failure and passed away late on the night of February 18th, surrounded by family and friends.
[I was inconsolable upon learning he had gone home to die, but a friend helped me through by making me realize that Scott had led his life to the absolute fullest, would leave with NO regrets, and was now in a pain-free place]
Scott O'Hara was born in 1961, the fifth of seven children (an older brother, three older sisters, and twin younger brothers).
In June, 1979 the 18-year-old O'Hara moved to San Francisco, the first of many changes of address that would find him in Dallas, Memphis, Chicago, Hawaii, Washington state, and various locales in California. In the summer of 1981, O'Hara began his career as a sex worker by stripping at Club San Francisco. In July, 1983, O'Hara appeared in his first gay porn video, "California Blue." Although a diminutive man (he was only 5'3"), O'Hara's 9" erection, boyish body, and huge smile made him popular with fans. O'Hara made it his goal to smile while having sex on film, a trait that endeared him to many viewers tired of "serious sex." In September, 1983, O'Hara entered and won the "Biggest Dick in San Francisco" contest at the gay strip club, Savages. (Despite the size of his cock, O'Hara professed a preference for bottoming.) In May, 1985, O'Hara's famous "Spunk" layout (in which he appeared as a blond, mohawked skateboard punk) ran in "Advocate Men." He published his first fiction story, "Sweet and Sour Pork," in the same magazine in February, 1986.
O'Hara's battle with AIDS began in 1987, when he noticed a lesion on his leg. O'Hara dismissed the lesion as a burn, but in September, 1989 he recognized it as Kaposi's sarcoma. His realization that he had AIDS profoundly affected O'Hara, and he decided to leave San Francisco. In May, 1990, O'Hara purchased a home in Cazenovia, WI and named it Little Dick.
In April, 1993, O'Hara began publishing "Steam," a quarterly, scholarly journal dedicated to discussions about public sex. It was shortly after the debut of "Steam" that O'Hara discovered he had lymphoma. From May, 1993 to May, 1994 he wrestled the disease into remission. It was toward the end of this painful struggle against cancer, in April of 1994, that O'Hara had "HIV+" tattooed on his left bicep. Scott moved back to San Francisco in June, 1995. In 1996, he published a book of short fiction stories titled "Do-It-Yourself Piston Polishing (for Non-Mechanics)." In 1997, O'Hara's autobiography (which also included several poems and essays), "Autopornography," was published.
Scott O'Hara was a sexual being who had learned to integrate sex into every aspect of his life. Sex was not an embarrassment to be hidden in a closet or brought out "only when appropriate." To O'Hara, sex WAS life.
Never one to shy from controversy, O'Hara was a strong supporter of NAMBLA (the North American Man-Boy Love Association), and took a good deal of flak for his support. O'Hara explained his support at a press conference held on June 24, 1994 to commemorate the Stonewall riot. "When I was 12 and 13 years old I would have joined NAMBLA in a minute, because I knew I was gay and I wanted to go out and get laid, not just read 'The Gay Mystique' all my life; I needed personal contact. [NAMBLA is] willing to take the risks that no one is willing to take... . They're the only ones willing to acknowledge that adolescents actually do have sex lives. There is also a more basic reason why I support NAMBLA. They are the voice of dissent in the gay movement today. They're the whipping boy, the fashionable group to condemn. ... I say, watch out, tomorrow that whipping boy could be you... . In the efforts of the gay establishment to suppress NAMBLA I see the seeds of tyranny."
His commitment to individualism and personal responsibility enabled O'Hara to handle the personal and hateful criticism he received. Ray Russ, a close associate of O'Hara's, commented in a Usenet post on the criticism leveled at O'Hara: "[U]ltimately the last laugh goes to Scott. More often than not, Scott found himself profoundly humored by many of the sophomoric jabs strewn forth by a few of the intellectual neanderthals we've grown to both predict and pity -- especially those residing in or near Seattle. Honestly, he didn't give a fuck what they thought."