"I have been a subscriber for nine years and have always been impressed by all of the beautiful women," writes V.B. from Annapolis, Maryland. "However, I am sure many readers also appreciate curvy ladies.  For example, a model named Chloe Marshall is competing to become the first size-16 Miss England. She would make a wonderful Playmate. She carries her weight very well and has a great body. It would be great to occasionally see women like her in the magazine."

Marshall’s participation in the pageant, which takes place this July, has caused much discussion in the U.K. and online about standards of beauty and health. She is cute, but does she have a great body? Here’s a bikini shot.

We often receive other requests for particular types of models. For example, J.P. of Toronto writes: "What usually dictates my buying decision at the newsstand is the Playmate. Two features in particular weigh on my decision: Is she all natural, and does she have tattoos? I prefer all natural but I can accept enhancements that have been done well. I can handle tattoos only if they are small or subtle. You had one of the best years in 2005—I purchased every issue and it was difficult to select a Playmate of the Year. The next year wasn’t bad either. But 2007 was one of the poorest I can remember. Tattoos have become a plague in southern California. When my wife asked why I wasn’t getting the magazine, I told her it was a matter of principle. Is it that difficult to find unmarked women for the Centerfolds?"

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R.H. of San Diego writes, “C31118. This was the number on my Playboy Club key that I had had since 1965 when I joined the Club after discharge from the Army. It was an ice breaker that initiated a lot of guy talk in bars, casinos, cigar lounges, conference rooms and parties. It had survived break-ups, make-ups, international travel, street violence, and insurrections --- everything except the Chicago Jazz Festival, where 10 years ago a tryst beneath a strategically placed blanket dislodged my key ring. All the other keys -- condo, office, car -- were replaced by the next day. How can I replace this personal treasure?”

Unfortunately your club card is irreplaceable. But we can think of worse ways to have lost it. 

 

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Our May issue will contain a letter from former LAPD chief Daryl Gates about the profile in February of current LAPD chief Bill Bratton. But we also heard from other police officers.

Rod Decker, who retired from the LAPD in 1983, writes: “The chain of command starts with the mayor, then the police commission, and finally reaches the chief. That’s how you end up with directives like Special Order 40, which prohibits offers from asking federal officials about a person’s immigration status before he or she is charged with a crime. But being aware of a person’s background keeps cops alive. Although Bratton supports Special Order 40, to take this hands-off approach is idiotic. It allows many criminals to slip through the cracks.”

“Years ago I had the privilege on sitting next to Bratton at a conference,” adds Bill Sullivan, a lieutenant with the Port Authority of Allegheny County. “You can tell when someone is a leader—Bratton has ‘command presence.’ At the time he was head of the 4,000-man New York Transit Police. He told me he had instituted a new policy to go after quality-of-life crimes in the subways such as disorderly conduct, fare evasion, graffiti, intoxication and loitering—the theory being that these were the same people committing robberies and assaults. Sure enough, transit crime fell dramatically. Pittsburgh has adopted that same strategy.”

A number of readers wrote about the letters that we published in response to our Playboy Interview with Robert Redford (November).

Says Jack Decker of Lebanon Junction, Kentucky: “I can’t believe the only responses to Redford’s interview are from a girl whose ignorance is made worse by her claim to be attending college and a guy in Florida who still gets worked up about Jane Fonda. People like that have made liberal a dirty word.”

“Every time you interview someone of liberal opinion (Al Franken, Keith Olbermann, Robert Redford), a loud minority of right-wing nuts grab their megaphones and issue a chorus of denunciations,” says Robert Borden of Jemez Springs, New Mexico. “They’re entitled to their opinions, but let’s have some perspective. George Bush has an approval rating of 29 percent, nine percentage points less than Barry Goldwater got stomped with. More than 80 percent of the American people think the country is going in the wrong direction, and 54 percent favor impeaching Dick Cheney. While Iraq goes up in flames, the Taliban has made a comeback in Afghanistan. After seven years of lies and incompetence, even GOP candidates are talking about ‘change.’ Change from what, do you think? I think it’s safe to say that most people think Redford is an excellent actor and a patriotic citizen who cares about his country. His criticism of the Bush administration is, if anything, understated.”

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Ike Kelneck of Muskoka, Ontario, writes, “Britney, Lindsay and Paris all knew they were going to show their booty to the world—they wanted the attention (The Year in Sex, January). Isn’t it a shame it’s come to that? Those pictures aren’t even stimulating as much as ‘paparazzi prurient,’ which is what seems to drive the culture these days. I remember how strong imagination was for me when that was all I had to rely on. And, frankly, there was more pleasure in not getting it all.”

D. Lamb of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: “Seriously, what are you trying to do to me?! Amanda Paige and Hiromi Oshima in a photo together? (Sex in America, February). While I’m dreaming why don’t you throw in a couple of shots of them with Dalene Kurtis.”

“Growing up in Texas in the 1980s, I knew the joy of sitting on tailgates and drinking Natty Lite, as well as stealing my dad’s Playboys before implants became the norm,” says Ryan Powers of Houston. “Natural is hot, and Beverly Mullins of The Women of Hooters 2008 (February) looks amazing.”

“I had the privilege of meeting your February Playmate, Michelle McLaughlin, the other day,” says Trey Flynt of Albuquerque. “While many people joke that Playboy airbrushes and otherwise ‘fixes’ the models, Michelle is prettier in person than she in her layout.  The only problem was she was wearing clothes.”

Finally, Greg Doherty of Hillsborough, California, says he found a “glaring omission” in our February report Sex in America regarding the sexiest women in politics. “Elizabeth Kucinich (the wife of former Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich) is a truly scrumptious bit of crumpet, and she even has a naughty little tongue stud.” Greg has a point—see the photo at left.

Q: On page 82 of the January issue, the article on Spanish wine includes the photo of a stunning young lady. Who is she?
A: Amanda Hanshaw.

Q: On page 142 of the February issue (in Potpourri), who is the model wearing the "Amity Island" T-shirt?
A: Amanda Hanshaw, again.

Q: How about doing a celebrity pictorial on entertainment reporter Lisa Guerrero?
A: You mean, another pictorial? See our January 2006 issue.

Q: What issue did you do the pictorial of female morticians?
A: There was just one mortician, Alexandra Mosca, who posed for us in April 1986 (“The Lady in Black”).

Q: I own a 1966 Pink Barracuda. I was told it could have been a Playmate gift car. Do you have any info on cars given away to Playmates of the Year? A: Just about every pink car ever made is said to have been originally owned by a Playmate. The 1965 PMOY, Jo Collins, received a 1966 pink Sunbeam Tiger convertible (imported from the UK). The 1966 PMOY, Allison Park, received a 1967 pink Dodge Charger. 

 

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In November 2000 we printed three letters from readers who had been discreetly reading Playboy on a plane when a flight attendant told them to put it away or face arrest. At least one attendant told a passenger on a D.C. to Dallas flight that the mere presence of the magazine created a hostile work environment for her and that the FAA bans “sexually explicit material” aboard planes (there is no such regulation). Another AA attendant from a Miami to Santo Domingo flight later saw the passenger with his wife in a tourist hotel, slapped him in the head and yelled, “I can’t believe you are so disrespectful of your wife to read that magazine in front of her!” Meanwhile, a Southwest attendant on a Vegas to LA flight told a passenger, “You cannot read that filthy smut on this airplane.”

At the time we phoned AA, Southwest and every other major airline to see if any had policies that banned passengers from reading Playboy. All insisted they did not. AA said it has investigated the hotel incident but wouldn’t tell us anything more about it.

We published another letter in October 2005. This time a Southwest attendant on a flight from Albuquerque to Vegas told a passenger, “You need to put that away. I think it’s inappropriate.”  She then claimed she had asked the captain about it, and that unless the passenger complied, airport security would be waiting for him upon arrival. That prompted a letter from Playmate Victoria Fuller (Miss January 1996), who recalled that in 1999 she and her husband had been removed from an America West flight when they refused to put away the new issue of Playboy. (They took a later flight but waited until after take-off to pull out the magazine.) 

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Andy Odendhal, who goes by the pen name Obaki, writes from Ridgefield, Washington: “I am a 3D artist and a fan of the Femlin, going back to when I was a kid sneaking into my father's Playboy collection. As a tribute to LeRoy Neiman and his delightful creation, I created a rendering of the Femlin measuring up to a ruler, based on one of Mr. Neiman's works. I hope you enjoy it! (P.S. I think Hef is cool, too).” For more of Obaki’s work, click here.

“When is Playboy and most of the rest of the world going to discover Marlene Favela?” asks Tim Bickerton of Sparks, Nevada. “The star of many Spanish novellas, she is now moving into American cinema with a part in The Awakening. She is most definitely in the same league as Eva Mendes and Salma Hayek. It would be nice to see Playboy move away from the questionable beauty of wrestling divas and flash-in-the-pans such as Kim Kardashian.” Naturally we don’t agree with your assessment of the WWE babes or Ms. Kardashian, but you’re absolutely right about Favela. She’s a knockout. We’ll see what we can do.

W.M. of Tampa wants to know the identity of the “gorgeous girl in the Mercury commercials.” That’s Jill Wagner, who first appeared in the ads in 2005. Here’s an interview Playboy.com did with her about “Blade: The Series.”
 

 

The New York Post reported this morning, following a bunch of hysterical blog postings, that I asked the editor of a Keith Olbermann fan site to respond with a letter to our Interview with the man that appeared in the October issue. Well, faithful Playboy reader, it’s true! I invited Becky Last-Name-Not-Public-Knowledge over at BloggingOlbermann.com to read the Interview (she may have already done so) and write a letter if she felt so inspired.

Two quick points: (1) I didn't tell her to make her letter "gushing." In fact, she wrote a smart response and we were glad to have it. I try to include a variety of views in the letters pages because I know from experience that people who agree with something are less likely to write--and this is born out by the fact we have since gotten letters from K.O. lovers who can't believe all the K.O. haters who wrote. (2) Anyone who actually reads Playboy--rather than just posting snide comments about it (that “for the articles” joke is so clever! More, please)--can’t be too surprised. We have invited experts who might not otherwise see the magazine to comment, in whatever way they see fit, in our letters pages since the 1960s. It makes for a more spirited debate.

The November issue contains a letter from C.S. of Hollywood, Florida, who boasts that his “long and fruitful years of cockmanship” have taught him that women want intercourse to be “harder, faster and deeper, just like in porn.” That didn’t sit well with a number of readers.

"Sometimes male assumptions make me laugh,” writes S.M. of Cleveland. “Porn is to sex like action movies to war: They both overdramatize the exciting parts that appeal mostly to men. Soft and shallow is wonderful. It tenses the body up and puts a girl right in the moment. She may not ask for it because she won't see it as a turn-on for her partner. As for oral sex, which C.S. claimed women want to be ‘loud, sloppy and wet,’ men are pretty straightforward. They like a lot of easy staples, so even without flourishes they can be quite satisfied. Women are a little complicated. Variety, intuitiveness and a gentle tongue are par for the course for most. The vulva isn't a blackboard, it's a canvas. Finally, my favorite, penetration for the heterosexual man, which C.S. dismisses as ‘just wrong.’ Men often have fantasies about anal sex. Women have them, too. I was thrilled when my latest man wanted to try anal play. I knew he was very straight from the start, so it was an unexpected treat getting asked to show him what life is like on the receiving end.”

B.C. of Sandyville, West Virginia, weighs in with this: “Obviously C.S. has never tried slow and shallow, which is much more likely to stimulate a woman’s G spot.”

D.M. of Boise concludes with this note of caution: “I may not be a ‘cocksman’ as C.S. so eloquently put it but I am a 40-year-old man who frequents the bed of several younger women, ranging from 22 to 30 years old, not because I'm a Brad Pitt look alike but because their husbands or boyfriends think like C.S. does. Porn is great as fantasy but there's a reason most of the female orgasms you see are fake. Some women may like it rough once in a while but C.S., you keep pounding and acting like going down on her is all-you-can-eat buffet, and she's going to go numb. If you don’t savor what you're doing and let her savor it, as well, you may come home and find me in your bed with her.”

"Given his claim that the women in his life have all wanted loud, sloppy and wet sex, I can only assume this guy is also one of those animals who almost sucks a woman's face off with a wide-mouth kiss,” says S.E. of Ramstein, Germany. “Certainly, as the climaxing approaches, we might enjoy a bit of the thrusting action, but please. This guy also doesn't seem to be aware of his own penis.  The head is the most sensitive area of a man's entire body.  Slow, shallow thrusting can do so much more for a man's experience. The vagina doesn’t have nerve endings deep inside. All a woman feels after so much penetration is the pressure, not sensation. Men need to make love to the clit.”

Finally we hear from D.L. in Colorado Springs, who writes, “C.S. has no idea what a real woman wants.  After reading about the Rule of Nines in the Advisor my husband tried it on me. It was phenomenal! Porn's are created out of male fantasy's (nothing wrong with that), but don't think for one minute that is what a woman really wants. As for tracing the alphabet with your tongue on a woman’s clit, my husband and I have a fantastic and creative sex life, but when he used that suggestion I reached new levels of ecstasy! Thank you for yet another wonderful idea.” We aim to please.

Brad from Chicago writes, “Miss October, Spencer Scott, is stunning. But while you say she was born and raised in the tiny town of Dallas, Georgia, she writes on her Data Sheet that she was born in St. Petersburg, Florida.” Good catch, Brad. Spencer was born in St. Pete but raised in Dallas, Georgia.

We are still getting letters about our Playboy Interview with Keith Olbermann. mostly negative. You’ll see many of them in the January 2008 issue. Here are three that arrived after our deadline:

“I opened my October issue of Playboy and found two perfect asses,” writes Gary Clark of Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, “The first was on Spencer Scott and the second was Keith Olbermann. Saying Rupert Murdoch is worse than Al Qaeda is just what I would expect from the liberal jerk.”

“Things that piss Keith Olbermann off: Iraq, Bush, Fox News and people who don't speak English,” says Tony Brasch of Hartford, Wisconsin. “Thing that pisses Tony Brasch off: Keith Olbermann. Keith should stick to making dorky sports jokes and leave the politics for the adults.”

“Olbermann is dead wrong about Barry Bonds [who he says should be banned from the game] and Pete Rose [who he says should be in the Hall of Fame],” concludes a reader from San Francisco. “There are only two questions to ask: (1) Did the athlete break any league rules? (2) Did he/she ever test positive for a banned substances during his/her career? Bonds is headed to the Hall of Fame and Rose is not because Rose broke MLB rules. It seems that Keith has made much more money under Republican administrations. How is he going to continue to pay the mortgage on his $4.2 million condo if the Democrats are in the White House? If you like his show, vote Republican.”

A few items from the mailbag:

After seeing our Playmate News item in October about a banner created by Oregon State University students honoring Sara Jean Underwood, the “first OSU Beaver Playmate of the Year,” Keti Batti of Santa Rosa, California writes, “As a female alumni of OSU and a longtime subscriber, I am surprised that current students aren’t aware that the fabulous Jodi Ann Patterson, the PMOY in 2000, also attended OSU.”

We often receive suggestions from readers for pictorials they would like to see. A reader from Chester Heights, Pennsylvania, writes to ask for a pictorial featuring “the beautiful women who used to work in the non-conforming mortgage industry. After being in that line of work for 10 years, I can say that there are many, many hot women in the mortgage field. And, now that many are not working, they may be ready to let loose.” We’ll look into it.

Meanwhile, Brian Kelly of Philadelphia says he received the October issue and was thrilled to see Girls of the SEC on the cover but disappointed to discover we were referring to the Southeastern Conference and not the Securities and Exchange Commission. “When are the sexy ladies of financial enforcement finally going to grace the pages of Playboy?” he asks. We’ll look into that one too—although we published a pictorial called The Women of Wall Street in August 1989.

Finally, a reader from Brunswick, Maine writes, “This may sound odd, but have you noticed that Hef and Kendra are rarely pictured side-by-side? There is usually someone standing between them. It would make for a good drinking game: drink if you see Hef with the girls, chug if you see him standing next to Kendra.” We can’t say we’ve noticed this—we have many shots of Hef with Kendra (including this one). Instead, you should chug when you see Hef without one of the girls nearby.

Lugging the mail bag around the office is starting to hurt our back, so let’s unload a few of these gems:

Kelly Ewing of Richmond, Virginia has an idea for a pictorial: “The New York Times recently published an article on young librarians as 'the new hushers.' Libraries, for some weird reason, are drawing in young, sexy, hipster types. Ever consider doing a spread of librarians? Unleash that bun, rip off those glasses, and make them return that book on time! What's sexier than that?” (If you’re hot for librarians, check out this site.)

“BMoon” of Houston speaks for a number of readers when he writes, “The entire Rubber Rules pictorial in September is top notch, but the last two photos of Louise Glover are amazing.”

Mike Newton of Boston shares a memory: “In the summer of 1992, I mailed in a crisp $20 bill for a subscription. Knowing that my parents would not approve of their 14-year-old son ordering Playboy (and that Playboy would never send the magazine), I created a fake name (Harold T. Craig) and had it mailed to my grandmother’s apartment building. I then made regular trips to visit grandma and retrieve her mail. The first issue that came was July 1992, featuring Pamela Anderson. I couldn’t believe it! I received two more issues before someone in the building caught on, as I never saw another. Now I’m 29 and I have another subscription, this time in my real name. Thanks for the entertainment over the years.” You’re welcome, Mike. We hope no one is stealing your issues.

After reading in the gossip rags that Hef plans to marry No. 1 girlfriend Holly Madison before the end of the year, Beth Hart of Lamar, Colorado writes with a suggestion: “I have a great idea for Hef to propose to Holly. He should add some words to the Hollywood sign so its reads "Hollywood You Marry Me?" and then take her on a helicopter ride so she can see it.” Thanks Beth, we’ll pass that on—you just have to hope that Holly, now an assistant photo editor at the magazine, doesn’t read this blog.
 
Ken Giangiordano of Riverside, New Jersey, also believes he has spotted a clue: “I noticed a bunch of wedding related cartoons in the June issue—is that a sign that Hef is going to do it? If Holly becomes Holly Madison Hefner, at least Hef (HMH) won't need to buy new monogrammed towels.”