(Note: This story appears in the brand new March 2021 issue of ED Magazine)

With the exception of the year (2011) that my son was born a month prematurely, I have been to or have overseen virtually every EXPO seminar for the past 20 years. I’ve seen full rooms for some of our great Keynote speakers. I’ve seen enthusiastic crowds and lively debates during our legal panels. I’ve witnessed engaging experts, nervous speakers, and literally everything in between. There were times that the attendees in the room, including myself, were inspired or even blown away by a speech given by a panelist.

But nothing in the past two decades can compare to one early September day at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The year was 2004, the EXPO’s theme encompassed the upcoming elections. And our Keynote Speaker was someone who knew all too well the ramifications of having politicians in office who would tread not so lightly on our First Amendment rights. He was there to remind us all that the First Amendment was, and is, worth defending — even if it might cost you your life.

That man is Larry Flynt — now, the late Larry Flynt, as he passed away on February 10 of heart failure at the age of 78. He is the man who created the Hustler Clubs (in the late 1960s), then Hustler Magazine, then Hustler Stores and … well, anything and everything Hustler, which became a very profitable, global brand.

He was also the man who fought countless First Amendment court battles, and almost died for his penchant for pushing the First Amendment to its legal limits. On March 6, 1978, during a legal battle related to obscenity in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Flynt and his local lawyer, Gene Reeves Jr., were returning to the Gwinnett County Courthouse when they were shot on the sidewalk by serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin (Franklin, a racist, admitted years later that he tried to kill Flynt because of a pictorial in Hustler that portrayed a white woman having sex with a black man).

The shooting left Larry partially paralyzed with permanent spinal cord damage, and in need of a wheelchair. Those injuries caused him constant, excruciating pain and he was reportedly addicted to painkillers until multiple surgeries deadened the affected nerves. He also suffered a stroke caused by one of several drug overdoses on his analgesic medication.

For me, personally, that day was a career high point. I knew, as I’m sure those in attendance did that day, that we were listening to a man who almost gave his life so that we could make a living in an industry that we love. He fought those First Amendment battles for all of us. If there ever was a General Patton of the First Amendment Army, that man was Larry Flynt. – ED’s Dave Manack

But that slight speech impediment didn’t matter at EXPO in September 2004. The standing-room-only crowd — likely the largest crowd I’ve ever seen at an EXPO seminar — hung on every single one of Larry’s words as he delivered that Keynote Address. The crowd punctuated his 30-minute address with a standing ovation, seemingly acknowledging the fact that they had clearly witnessed a shining moment in the EXPO’s history.

Flynt spent much of his 30-minute address discussing his own free speech and First Amendment battles, taking special care to specifically relate his battles to those being fought regularly by adult nightclub owners across the country. He also warned EXPO attendees of the harm the Bush Administration had been perpetrating against freedom of speech and other civil liberties.

“Probably one of the most evil acts that the government has been involved in is the passage and institution of the Patriot Act,” said Flynt during that Keynote. “All the civil liberties and individual rights that we have gained in the last century have been placed in jeopardy by [former U.S. Attorney General] John Ashcroft and George Bush.”

For me, personally, that day was a career high point. I knew, as I’m sure those in attendance did that day, that we were listening to a man who almost gave his life so that we could make a living in an industry that we love. He fought those First Amendment battles for all of us. If there ever was a General Patton of the First Amendment Army, that man was Larry Flynt.

The Doors’ Jim Morrison once famously asked, “Did you have a good world when you died? Enough to base a movie on?” While Larry Flynt was no angel, he certainly did enough to base a movie on. To further understand his life and legacy, check out “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996) starring Woody Harrelson in the title role.

He’s a man who took a bullet for what he believed in. How many of us would do the same?

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