RIP Hef...

There will be a lot of snickering, but Playboy, in its heyday, was an example of some of the best publishing around. While Hef built an empire around the promotion of it, the magazine had some of the finest photography (whether you appreciated the subject matter or not), excellent articles, great fiction, interviews with popular subjects, and great cartoons and jokes. It was printed on quality stock, and showed impressive design and layout. Month after month, year after year.

Sadly, the magazine has suffered the same fate as most printed publications in the era of the internet.

Hef lived the life that young men of several generations could only dream of. Along the way, he was a force for changing how America thinks. Playboy opened discussions of race, politics, music, repressive laws, sex, and so much more.

And, he had style.  Working in his pajamas... the Big Bunny (a DC9)... surrounded by beautiful women and the "stars" of the day... and, of course: the Playboy Mansion.





In his later years, Hefner turned over the running of the magazine and the business to others.  It showed.  There was something almost sad as he did the reality show scene with girls who were 50 years younger than he was... kind of a caricature of himself.


Proof that, at some point, we all have to grow up.  Probably.

RIP Hef - you changed the way America thinks.