James Elliot Naughtin, a.k.a. Erik Rhodes, would have been 38 today if he hadn't exploded 8 years ago. For the last several years of his short life, James's blog was a wrenching testament to the depression and hopelessness he never even came close to conquering. Substance abuse surely exacerbated his woes.
The few times I met James—at porn events—he was gregarious and affable. He always seemed to be happily enjoying life in the public eye. I have never figured out whether that was pure facade or genuine, paradoxical happiness.
James left us a breathtaking body of porn work to enjoy. It's just a fucking shame he couldn't give us more of him.
