WADDELL, Ariz. — Beth Mansfield, famously known on the adult web as "Persian Kitty," passed Tuesday night after a prolonged battle with cancer.
"Thanks for all the concern and support," wrote her sons in a social media post Thursday night. "Please give our family time to process this immense loss. She was a rock for so many people in her life. She was always willing to help someone in need and will be greatly missed."
PersianKitty.com was the most-visited free site during the heydays of early adult web, offering a regularly updated assortment of outbound links promoting major and upstart adult destinations.
“A legend of the adult web, webmasters around the world looked to Persian Kitty for inspiration and sought to replicate her magic touch, including myself,” XBIZ Founder and Publisher Alec Helmy recalled. “She will be missed by so many. RIP, Beth.”
"A Giant in Our Industry"
"My heart goes out to her family," said AEBN's Bishop Wages. "She was an original, a giant in our industry and her site was an early inspiration for lots of us.”
Industry vet Brian Shuster described her as "a pioneer who had a massive impact on the early adult internet. Her link list format was transformative and it inspired generations of websites that followed her lead in both adult and mainstream."
"Indeed, no history of the adult internet or honestly, of the World Wide Web itself, can really be told without including Beth Mansfield and Persian Kitty as a big part of the origin story," he added.
FanCentro's Stan Fiskin recalled Mansfield was "the one that really got me started in the industry."
"For the first year primarily she was the traffic source for my sites, and what allowed me to get started and get the foot in the door in the industry," he said.
XBIZ will continue to update this story with industry memorials.