I’m sitting at my desk, looking at the first issue of a magazine that doesn’t actually exist yet.

No, I’m not delusional, but I am having a moment… a visionary moment.

I realize the PrimeTime Eric platform I’m developing is electronic, but I’m also quite nostalgic for a time when I used to go to the newsstand to pick up my favorite fitness magazines.

And you’re never too old to use your imagination.

So I may as well go even further with mine, and I’m going to walk you through the first issue of PrimeTime Eric as editor-in-chief.

This isn’t another men’s fitness magazine.

The Cover

The cover has a confident gay man in his 50s, not a fitness model, who is comfortable in his own skin.

Okay, it’s me, and it was an executive decision.

The tagline under PrimeTime Eric would read:

THE GEN X GAY MAN’S GUIDE TO AGING ON HIS OWN TERMS

Cover stories might include:

  • Build Strength. Keep Your Independence.
  • Are We Too Old for the Gay Scene…and Is There Still a Gay Scene
  • The Body We’ve Spent 30 Years Trying to Fix
  • What Happened to Our Friends?
  • Sex, Intimacy & Aging
  • Why Your 50s Might Be Your Best Decade Yet

I can already see the magazine’s personality, and it’s calling my name… and yours.

Now let’s open the magazine.Table of Contents

I see five main sections to PrimeTime Eric.

THE BODY

Strength, mobility, cardiovascular health, nutrition, recovery, sleep and fitness—but presented through the reality of aging.

No more articles like “Get Ripped by Summer.”

Instead, let’s talk about why strength training is an absolute must for our generation. Maybe you need to know:

“How strong do you need to be to carry your own suitcase at 70?”

Sure, it’s not sexy, but I’m pretty sure that if you’re training to carry an overloaded suitcase when you’re 70, your body will find its sexiness quite naturally.

The goal isn’t necessarily to look younger.

The goal is to stay strong enough to keep doing the things you want to do.

THE MIND

This section explores the psychological baggage many gay men carry into their 50s.

One feature might be:

“The Body We’ve Spent 30 Years Trying to Fix”

It would explore the complicated relationship many gay men have with their bodies.

We grew up in a culture where being gay could already make you feel different. Then we entered a gay culture where youth, appearance and physical attractiveness could become currencies of their own.

The punch is that we may have spent years trying to make our bodies acceptable, desirable or validating—only to eventually discover that the body changes anyway.

So what happens when the body you’ve spent decades trying to perfect starts changing whether you like it or not?

Maybe the answer isn’t to fight it.Maybe it’s to finally figure out how to live in it.

THE PRIME

The heart of the magazine.

It’s not just about fitness or aging… but living.

This is where you’d find stories about:

  • Reinventing yourself at 50+
  • Starting over
  • Travel
  • Personal challenges
  • Dating and relationships
  • Sexuality
  • Creativity
  • Career changes
  • Pursuing something you’ve put off
  • Figuring out what your next chapter looks like

And perhaps the most important question:

What if your prime isn’t something you look back on, but something you’re still creating?

This is where I think PrimeTime Eric would differentiate itself from a conventional health publication.

Fitness magazines want you to ask:

How do I maintain my body?

PrimeTime Eric would want you to ask:

What am I doing with the prime part of my life?

THE COMMUNITY

Stories about Gen X Gay Men themselves.

Where we came from.

What shaped us.What we’ve lost.

What we’ve gained.

What we’re still figuring out.

And let’s find out where we are on the social scene.

Maybe we need some perspective on the gay scene.

I think an article like this would be both enlightening and necessary:

“Are We Too Old for the Gay Scene—and Is There Still a Gay Scene?”

You walk into a gay bar at 55…

  • Who is there?
  • Do you feel welcome?
  • Do you still recognize the culture?
  • Have gay bars changed?
  • Have we changed?
  • Did we leave the scene voluntarily—or did the scene become something different?

Maybe the article isn’t really about whether we’re too old for the gay scene.

Maybe the question is whether the gay scene has figured out what to do with men our age.

THE GEN X FILES

An editorial section looking at the music, movies, culture and experiences that shaped us.

It could look at the things we never thought would change—like when you actually had to leave the house to meet someone.

We were also, and still are, huge consumers, so it could be fun to explore something like:

“10 Things Every Gen X Gay Man Thought Would Be Cool Forever.”

Yes, it’s a nostalgic section, but nostalgia can be about more than remembering what we used to buy or listen to.

It can remind us of who we were.

We could revisit:

  • The music we still listen to.
  • The movies we still quote.
  • The clothes we thought were fashionable.
  • The technology we couldn’t wait to get rid of.
  • The technology we now can’t live without.
  • The first gay bar.
  • The first gay magazine.
  • The first time someone made us feel like maybe we weren’t alone.

That last one might be the most important.

Because nostalgia isn’t just about remembering what we had.

Sometimes it’s about remembering how far we’ve come.

And Then I Close the Magazine

Of course, I know it doesn’t actually exist.

Well, not yet anyway.

But maybe that’s the point.

Everything I’ve imagined in that first issue is a conversation I think we should be having.

About our bodies.

Our minds.

Our relationships.

Our history.

Our community.

And what we want the next chapter of our lives to look like.

That’s what I want PrimeTime Eric to become.

Not a magazine that tells Gen X Gay Men how to stay young, but a platform that reminds us that we’re not finished.

Our prime isn’t behind us.

We’re in it.