Rob Lawless’s “10,000 Friends” interview with David Perry

Rob Lawless’s “10,000 Friends” interview with David Perry

Ahoy! Thanks to Rob Lawless for interviewing me as part of his “10,000 Friends” Project! Please support the project and learn more at https://www.robs10kfriends.com

Below: my interview with Rob as posted on his Instagram page @robs10kfriends.

“It’s the one thing that’ll be in my obituary that I did that was smart, besides marrying my husband.”

While David Perry was the last of his friends to move to San Francisco — “the A group moved, the B group moved and suddenly I had no more friends left in DC” — he’s certainly left his mark on the city.

“I’m the founder of the world’s first LGBT Walk of Fame, the Rainbow Honor Walk. It’s 3 ft by 3 ft bronze plaques to LGBT heroes and heroines in San Francisco, and you can read all about it at RainbowHonorWalk.org.”

The walk is fitting, though, as David’s been a huge fan of history since his childhood.

“I remember my mother and I were in our den in Richmond, Virginia, and the movie, ‘Titanic,’ with Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwyck [came on] and we sat there watching it, and I was rapt with attention.”

He became obsessed with maritime history and ocean liners. So after studying Theater & Voice at SUNY Fredonia, moving to DC and relocating to San Francisco, David traveled around the world, writing the newspaper for the Crystal Cruises’ Symphony. And in that time, when James Cameron’s “Titanic” came out, he began doing presentations on the ship, leading to a career in speaking.

Still a writer, though, David penned several hundred articles and a best-selling novel (“Upon This Rock”), while helping amplify other people’s stories through his show, “10 Percent,” and his PR firm, David Perry & Associates!

He’s lived a fulfilling life so far, but more than his work, he’s been molded by his loved ones, including his husband, his friends, his mom, his maiden aunts and his grandmother!

“I always say, if you’ve ever seen that old show from the 1980s, ‘Designing Women’ — a group of Southern women — that my family was a cross between the Golden Girls and Designing Women, and those women raised me.”