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SEX in the NEWS 9/07/02
The Joy of Sex takes Comfort from the Scottish Secretary
HAMISH MACDONELL Scottish Political Editor
HELEN Liddell, the Scottish Secretary, is to lose Nick Comfort, her special adviser, at the end of this week - he has been lured away by The Joy of Sex.
Mr Comfort is leaving Mrs Liddell’s team to promote an updated version of the 1970s sex manual .
The Joy of Sex was written by Mr Comfort’s father, Dr Alex Comfort, in 1972. It has sold 12 million copies worldwide and still sells more than 70,000 copies a year.
Now, 30 years later, Mr Comfort has decided to revise the manual for the 21st century, and he is leaving the government to promote The Joy of Sex, a Gourmet Guide to Lovemaking, which is due out later this month.
Both Mrs Liddell and Mr Comfort have stressed that Mr Comfort’s departure was prompted by the anticipated success of the book, but it is understood that it represents a convenient break for the special adviser, who was looking for another opportunity.
Initially, it had been hoped that Mr Comfort could continue to work as the Secretary of State’s special adviser at the same time as promoting his book - he had cleared this with the Scotland Office - but it soon became clear that his commitments to the publishers would take up too much time.
Mrs Liddell, who has written her own steamy book, a sex-and-politics thriller called Elite, said Mr Comfort "was moving for an interesting reason" and wished him every success in the future.
Mr Comfort said: "The success has taken everyone by surprise, and I owe it to my father to do the best I can for him."
Dr Comfort’s encyclopaedia of lovemaking was a huge success, but he was so wary of charges of pornography that he illustrated it with line drawings of a bearded man and his wife.
The new, revised version will feature many changes to the original, including photographs of a 21st century couple. It will shed outdated phrases like "groovy" and "with it", replacing them with more modern terms.
The phrase "husbands and wives" will also be dropped in the new edition and in its place will go the more politically correct "partners", while "girls" will be replaced with "women". The revamped classic is also expected to introduce more detail on sexual health, internet sex, the use of Viagra and kinky clothing such as rubber.
The section on prostitution has also been changed, saying a woman’s major motivation is economic rather than, as previously stated, a hatred of men.
Mr Comfort admitted recently the news that he was updating the popular sex manual had taken some of his colleagues by surprise.
He said: "I’ve had the odd teasing e-mail, but a surprising number of people didn’t know I had anything to do with it."
Mr Comfort insisted that he had not suddenly become a sex expert.
"I’ve had American lads’ magazines ringing me up asking me for tips," he said, "and I’ve had to say I’m not a guru and that they’ll have to consult someone else."
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