Jon continues to discuss the AIDS crisis in the 80's and how the community came together to help each other.
15 Oct 2026
Oh Mary Please - Episode 5
In this episode, we sit down again with Jon Crovo to continue an essential and deeply human conversation. Jon takes us back to the height of the AIDS crisis — a time when fear, loss, and uncertainty shaped daily life for countless young men. With compassion and clarity, he shares how he unexpectedly became a community leader, stepping in to organize health care, support networks, and even funerals for friends who were barely in their twenties.
This episode explores what it meant to shoulder responsibility in a moment when institutions failed and communities had to save themselves. Jon’s story is one of courage, grief, and the quiet heroism that emerges when someone decides to show up — again and again — for people who have nowhere else to turn.
30 Sept 2026
Oh Mary Please - Episode 4
In this episode, we sit down again with Jon Crovo to continue an essential and deeply human conversation. Jon takes us back to the height of the AIDS crisis — a time when fear, loss, and uncertainty shaped daily life for countless young men. With compassion and clarity, he shares how he unexpectedly became a community leader, stepping in to organize health care, support networks, and even funerals for friends who were barely in their twenties.
This episode explores what it meant to shoulder responsibility in a moment when institutions failed and communities had to save themselves. Jon’s story is one of courage, grief, and the quiet heroism that emerges when someone decides to show up — again and again — for people who have nowhere else to turn.
15 Sept 2026
Oh Mary Please - Episode 3
In this part, we learn that owning a gay bar isn't all glitter and gold. The owner describes almost losing his brother to thugs who came to beat up gay men.
26 Aug 2026
Oh Mary Please - Episode 2
In this episode, we sit down with Jon Crovo, a longtime East Bay bar owner to learn about the challenges of opening the first gay bar in the area despite the objections of a few communities.
13 Aug 2026
Oh Mary Please - Episode 1
In this episode, we sit down with Jon Crovo, a longtime EastBay bar owner whose life and work span one of the most transformative eras in LGBTQ+ history. Beginning in 1976, Jon owned and operated a gay bar in the San Francisco Bay Area, creating a gathering place at a time when visibility, safety, and community were acts of courage.
Over 44 years of ownership, Jon witnessed the rise of gayliberation, the changing social landscape of the Bay Area, and the resilienceof a community that fought to be seen, heard, and respected. His stories include memories of meeting Harvey Milk, building community through nightlife, and navigating decades of cultural change from the front lines of queer history.
Part personal history and part living archive, this conversation offers a rare look at the people, places, and moments that shaped LGBTQ+ life in the East Bay and beyond. Join us for an intimate conversation filled with humor, memory, hard-won wisdom, and stories from a life spent at the heart of community.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
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