The Pornographer's Daughter Comes Home

KRISTIN Battista-Frazee's annual family reunion is mostly run-of-the-mill.

Each spring, 100 aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends gather at Swan Caterer's, on Water Street. Her dad, Anthony, and Uncle Gabriel organize the get-together. They choose a new theme each year. Uncle Joe, a 95-year-old World War II vet, presides.

Anthony Battista explained the reason for the gathering: "Family and friends usually get together for a wedding or a funeral - and there haven't been too many weddings lately."

A couple of weeks ago, the Battistas did it again. This time, they went Hawaiian.

But every family has a standout. The Battistas' happens to be Anthony, a stockbroker turned distributor of X-rated porno classics "Deep Throat" and "The Devil in Miss Jones."

In 1974, Battista was indicted for conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines. His trial, in which he was one of 60 defendants, became a landmark First Amendment case.

Back then, Battista also co-owned an adult theater, North Broad's Lane, and the Golden 33 strip club, at 13th and Locust, in, he said, "the seedy part of town: dilapidated buildings, bust-out bars, go-go bars, after-hours clubs."

He also co-owned and operated adult stores in Florida, three of which he still runs. He is 74.

Growing up in Upper Darby, Battista-Frazee, now 44, was only vaguely aware of her dad's X-rated occupations. "The family's dirty secret . . . was something always whispered about," she wrote in her recently published memoir, The Pornographer's Daughter.

"I'd always sensed what went on with my dad. But I didn't really know any of the nasty details."

Those details included dealings with the Mafia-tied Perainos and controversial adult entertainers, such as Honeysuckle Divine, who used her lady parts to launch ping-pong balls and make peanut-butter sandwiches. Then there were the suspected marital infidelities that, to this day, Battista-Frazee hasn't discussed with her father.

But to the only child of a pornographer, the nastiest of the details weren't scenes from a dirty film or onstage performance, er, art. Her parents shielded her from those.

Anthony Battista said that keeping his daughter away from his businesses was "a natural thing," adding, "I believe in the old school: Education is most important, good manners and morals . . . respect your elders. You can pen me as an extremely conservative liberal."

Her mom was open-minded about the biz. "She never had a problem with what my dad was selling or doing," said Battista-Frazee. Frannie Battista sewed yellow curtains for the Golden 33's ladies' lounge.

But the author's mother soon suspected her husband of cheating, became deeply depressed and attempted suicide. The family's move to Plantation, Fla., didn't much improve matters. Battista-Frazee's parents split when she was 14, around the same time she was grasping what her dad did for a living.

Even then, the daughter's approach wasn't reproach. As a teen, "I knew [the industry] was different, but I never thought it was wrong," said Battista-Frazee. As an adult, she remains matter-of-fact. "I understand a lot of the critics who attack the dark side of the industry," she said. But to her, the idea behind porn is "really about people embracing their sexuality."

"A lot of innovative technology practices have come out of the adult industry, and a lot of women's empowerment," she said. She hopes that transparency will shine a light on the shadier sides.

The Pornographer's Daughter offers less a peek into the world of on-screen and onstage sex, more a portrait of a Philadelphia-based family dealing with it.

Anthony Battista lost his job at W.E. Hutton. Battista-Frazee's mom's mom, Grandma Maria, took a girlfriend to see "Deep Throat" at the old President Theater, at 23rd and Snyder, and snuck into the Golden 33 for a look-see.

Some aunts and uncles took exception to her dad's line of work. Some of her cousins still disapprove. But, for the most part, she said, "We're all family, and you support your family no matter what they do."

When Battista-Frazee had a book signing at a Fort Lauderdale Barnes & Noble, she partnered with a nearby Hustler Hollywood and invited her dad along. After the event, the father-daughter duo "went into [Hustler] and looked around. He was taking pictures of displays and design ideas for the store, how you lay out the vibrators, focusing on merchandising."

The author, a social worker turned consultant, sees similarity between herself and her dad. She said, "We both get it, how to market and sell."

Battista still goes to adult conferences. He's updated his business, too, comparing his stores to Victoria's Secret. More than half of his clients are women. "It's a department-store-type operation," he said. "We cater to people that are not looking for yellow lights and blurred-out windows."

He comes back to Philly frequently and is encouraged by Center City development, yet disappointed in Philly's adult-store scene. "There are only two or three left," he said. "Danny's Bookstore, on 13th Street, another one nestled around the corner." (He's also bummed about the losses among local sports teams: the departures of Victorino, Pence, McCoy, Maclin - and the NCAA tourney-ender for alma mater Villanova.)

For the most part, he seems like a pretty regular guy, "P-pop" to Battista-Frazee's daughter.

For her part, the author described her own sexual proclivities as "fairly conservative, plain vanilla." She recently attended the Adult Video News Awards and she met Ron Jeremy ("a very nice guy," she said). She hopes to attend the next Adult Novelties Expo, in Vegas.

In the meantime, Battista-Frazee is just a working mom based in D.C., whose 12-year-old thinks "people having sex is 'ew.' "

Battista-Frazee also returns to Philly about four times a year to see her grandmother Maria, a cousin in Cherry Hill and an uncle down the Shore. The South Philly reunion remains a once-a-year-highlight.

"This year, it was really fun: Hawaii and fake leis," she said, pun entirely not intended.