CLEARWATER, Fla. — Don Waitt Jr., founder of ED Publications, which launched StorErotica Magazine, passed away peacefully at home on March 28 at the age of 67.
ED Publications shared news of Waitt’s passing on its websites, along with an obituary reflecting on his contributions to the industry.
Waitt grew up in an Air Force family and lived all over the U.S., as well as in Japan and Panama, before settling in Bossier City, Louisiana, where he worked as a reporter for the Shreveport Times. He continued his journalism career as a crime reporter in Louisiana and California, where he profiled biker gangs and bank robbers and won awards from the Associated Press and the Gannett News Service.
Shortly after his son was born, Waitt moved to Dallas and became publisher of Performance, a magazine for the touring concert industry. While there, he started the Exotic Dancer Directory.
The Directory evolved into ED Publications and the Gentleman’s Club Expo, and Waitt went on to help establish ACE, the Association of Club Executives, serving as acting president. Waitt then created StorErotica Magazine, the sister magazine to Exotic Dancer, focusing on the adult retail industry.
“He not only founded a trade association for an entire industry, but was a beloved and respected figure within it,” the ED statement said. “Don moved his family to Florida and raised his children there, loving the water, the trees and the sun. Always searching for adventure and a new story to tell, he traveled the world and made friends everywhere he went. Beyond his many accomplishments, his greatest role and joy was as a husband, father and grandfather. The best there ever was.”
Waitt also wrote the books “Leaving Early,” “The Revelation of Chester Fortunberry” and “Sucks to Be You.”
He is survived by his wife, Debbie; his son, Tyler; his daughter, Devyn; daughter-in-law Olivia Megalis and grandchildren Winter and Sebastian. He was preceded in death by his father, Donald Francis Waitt Sr., his mother, Mary Lou (Sartori) Waitt and his dog Boudreaux.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on April 6 at Sylvan Abbey Memorial Park, located at 2853 Sunset Point Rd. in Clearwater, followed by a gathering at the Waitt home.
