Posted by
Bill Cherry on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:35:19 AM
Radio social philosopher, Dennis Prager, frequently discounts the positive contributions Playboy inventor Hugh Hefner has made to American society. Prager’s opinion rather annoys me.
I was twelve years old when Playboy Magazine hit the newsstands for the first time. It was a dramatic contrast to the format and content of the other men’s magazines with which it shared the rack.
At fourteen I had my first job as a drugstore soda jerk.
The magazine rack was to the side of the soda fountain, so I frequently thumbed through the various publications to pass the time waiting for my shift to begin.
Over and above the photographs of what Hefner called Playmates, some of the most knowledgeable authors wrote and taught readers about jazz, how to dress, manners, cooking, art, architecture, apartment decorating, and gave social commentary. Cartoons were drawn by the best. The photographs were taken by award winners.
In his lengthy editorials, Hefner questioned and talked about subjects that few were broaching from an academic side.
So as I was trying to grow from adolescence to responsible manhood, Hefner and his Playboy Magazine contributed a great deal to the directions I took. And that was a good thing.
Dennis Prager apparently can't get past the Playmates.