Originally published on March 14th, 2018 for The Bold Italic.

“Should we share this bench and totally freak that girl out?” Dixie De La Tour motioned to a bench at Dolores Park. A woman in her mid-20s sat at one end, working on what looked like trig homework.

I met Dixie on a bright, warm January day—the type of January day you can have only in the Mission district of San Francisco. When I went to introduce myself and stuck out my hand, she instantly pulled me into a hug. She is warm and friendly, and doesn’t look like the type who would freak out an unsuspecting grad student.

But Dixie has devoted her entire life to a subject that is usually talked about only in hushed tones: detailed sex stories. She is the founder and host of the show Bawdy Storytelling. For 10 years, stories of kink, sex positivity and the sexual underground have been told on her stage.

“People are usually asking me to rein it in,” she said.

I assured her that that was the last thing I would want. Interviewing her was like talking to your favorite aunt, the one who will give you advice about your boy problems and answer the questions you are too embarrassed to ask your parents. She swears easily, even as children selling Girl Scout cookies in a red wagon walk by. She answered my questions with long, unfurling stories, and if something distracted her, she could pick up right where she left off. It’s obvious that years of storytelling had bled into her everyday life.

Read the rest at The Bold Italic.