I haven't spent anytime with a Playboy mag since Army days either. I will confess that after checking out the centerfold I would immediately go right to the forum and afterwards read the magazine from cover to cover. Thats where I was first exposed to some of the writings of the better authors today including Silverstein, some of the cartoons are still in a folder I kept from those days, I liked Gahan Wilson's humor and a guy named Rodriquez. I can't vouch for what the magazine is like anymore but it used to be a first class read.
It's thinner now, but still pretty good, if one factors in the liberal slant on news and social issues. In some cases, I agree. Can't get into that here.
One of my favorite items lately was the investigation into a series of shark attacks off the Egyptian resort coast. Turned out that a New Zealand ship transporting meat had thrown some bad carcasses of sheep overboard, attracting sharks to that area. The sharks were probably bull sharks (
C. leucas), notorious for attacks in the Red Sea, even in quite shallow water.
I have a stash of older issues and like to peruse the ads for 35mm cameras, Schrade pocketknives, etc.
And I treasure an issue in which Robert Ruark, then their Travel Editor, wrote one of his final stories, if not the last. It was on safari hunting and has a big color photo depicting recommended gear. I think that's in the April, 1965 issue and he died later that year. Ian Fleming died the previous year. I liked the excerpts from his James Bond novels and always bought the books.
I also have a few foreign editions: German, French, and Spanish. A couple of the German ones have really excellent articles about gunsmiths and about a famous custom knifemaker whom I've met. (Dietmar Kressler.)
Hef is 88 now and I wish him well. His wife Crystal (28) seems nice and they seem very affectionate with each other in TV interviews. I think his son Cooper is being primed to succeed Hef as the next editor -in- chief. I hope he keeps standards high, although I wish for some philosophical changes in editorial positions, especially on guns. However, the magazine is one of the few liberal ones that frequently prints letters in the Forum from readers who are pro gun. I and an editor for whom I've written at firearms publications have had letters published there.
I wish I could come up with a short story that I think their Fiction editor would buy, but she seems a little different from my mindset. Last I looked, they paid $3,000 for a story, so I may go think some more and hopefully come up with something suitable for them. It's hard to find good markets for short fiction, and the magazine buys mainly from established, famous authors.
Oh but now that you mention it I think I did notice a cartoon in there once.....
