bapu
Hef was the epitome of cool before being cool was cool.
RIP.
The pictures were nice, and the photography was excellent, which was not the case for the men's mags ever. But I have to admit that my favorite part ... well, that, too! ... was that a lot of their articles and interviews were with very nice folks and writers ... you really got to know them. I did get tired of Norman Mailer, Ray Bradbury and many others ... but in general, you found out something about these folks that otherwise no one would. Might even find out that the woman is empty headed writing those fantasy books, and that Stephen is one sick dude with nothing to say!
There was, then, an important respect for the arts ... which no other magazine had.
In that sense, it was a very good thing ... it's just sad that so many folks are taking the bad side of it and trying to dismantle an education ... with dirt that does not belong.
On top of it, the humor was excellent ... and many cartoonists became famous ... I'm sure many of us have seen Shel's stuff ... and didn't realize ... that's him?
I would like to see a listing of all the interviews from day one ... there were some awesome ones.