Prime Timers Magazine — [from an undated copy of an article]

How and Why Prime Timers Was Started

AS PRIME TIMERS ENTERS ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY, IT IS ONLY FITTING
TO DEDICATE THIS ARTICLE TO WOODY BALDWIN, FOUNDER
By Steven Dubois, Traveling Ambassador

Woodrow Wilson Baldwin was born March 28,1920 and raised in Amarillo, Texas. He received his bachelor's degree tram the University of Oklahoma in 1942 and went almost immediately into the Anny serving until the end of the war plus a few weeks.

Woody decided he wanted to go to California to do graduate work. He was influenced by his best buddy in the Army who told him all about the gay life in that state. But as they say in Hollywood, "I was discovered". To his complete surprise and delight he was offered a position on the faculty and went on to get his doctorate and hung out in their classrooms for 10 years. Then he was offered a position as head of the school of business at Simmons College in Boston where they tolerated him for 26 years.

Woody was deeply closeted because of his profession but felt guilty that others were out there fighting his battles. It was his firm resolution to do something for the gay community when he retired. He volunteered to give as much as 15 or 20 hours a week to three different gay groups; they all responded, "Wonderful. We'll call you." None ever did so he realized that ageism had caught up with him.

So he began directing his attention to the elderly by running for and winning the election to become the head of the Council on Aging for Reading, MA. He also joined a super straight men's retirement group. The latter had a direct bearing on his later founding of Prime Timers. They met once a month for breakfast and would have 250 to 300 men attending. (Wives were highly supportive of the club; it got the men out of the house for a couple of hours). They had special interest groups—photography, stamp collecting, bowling, travel, etc.

Then Sean (his partner) and he went to New York for a weekend as they often did. To fill in a Saturday evening, they consulted Damron guide and saw a listing for a dance bar for elderly gay men. It said, "Don't sell these old men short; some of them can really boogy".

Woody tells the following story because it had a real bearing on the founding of Prime Timers. "At the bar we ordered our usual expensive drinks (beer) and before Sean could take a sip, someone asked him to dance. He was so excited that he spilled his beer and before I could get it cleaned up, someone asked me to dance. The bottom line is that we had a great time. A nice couple even invited us to their apartment for a nightcap. I was so naive that I thought a nightcap was a drink ! ! !"

He got back home and began thinking how nice it would be to have something like that in Boston. He wasn't about to go into the bar business at the ripe old age of 67 so Woody hit on the idea of starting a club for older gays patterned after the men's retirement club.

He decided on a date (August 15,1987), found a place to meet, advertised the hell out of it and decided if he had as many as 12 attending, he would plan a second meeting. Well, don't you know, it was the hottest, most humid day of the summer and the media was telling all older persons to stay home in air conditioning. He reduced his goal to 10. To his complete delight, 42 men showed up from as far as New Jersey. No words in his limited vocabulary could describe his delight.

We went around the room for each person to introduce himself and, if he wanted, to tell a little about himself and why he was there. Before the session ended, Woody knew he was onto something hot and his resolve to contribute something to the gay movement was realized. Hallelujah!

He had to find a larger venue because the one they were in held probably 20 persons. Fellows were standing, sitting on the floors and stairs. He gave them as their homework for the next meeting to suggest a name. Fifteen names were suggested. He said, "As temporary chairman, I am using my authority to eliminate from competition three of them. We are not going to be the gray ladies, the old farts or the wrinkle rockers. Prime Timers was selected as it was upbeat and didn't have gay or older in the name."

He wrote an article for Chiron Rising, a now defunct publication. A year later I got a call from a man in New York City who wanted to know if he would help him get a club like that started in that city. They became the second "chapter" of Prime Timers and we were a national organization. Sean and he moved to Austin and, of course, started the third chapter. Word spread and chapters started popping up everywhere. Each time he got a letter to that effect, he would say to Sean, "I have a new baby."

By 1991, we had enough chapters that Dick Bourbeau asked him if he could plan a "convention" in Provincetown. Almost single-handed but with some help from the Boston chapter, conventions were born.

By 1993, the club had grown too large for him to run it alone. He set up officers and a governing board and then stepped down and the reins were turned over to the new board. At the time they made Woody an honorary board member for life; "They didn't know then that 1 was going to live forever. If they had, they'd probably have given more thought to the matter."

Anyhow, that's the history of Prime Timers and Woody Baldwin is thrilled that we now have 66 chapters, two of which are in Australia, one in Sweden, and 7 in Canada. We have independent members from many other countries of the world, and we are delighted that new Chapters are a part of this growing service to the older gay community.

Woody Baldwin on behalf of all the Prime Timers Worldwide over the last twenty years and those yet to come. They would like to take this opportunity to say ''Thank you Woody". For all the courage and love you have shown in helping mature gay men everywhere.