Q & A With Special Editions producer and Playboy cover model Cynthia Kaye

Dianne: Cynthia, you're originally from Alaska. Tell us what your childhood was like. What did you like most and least about living up there?

Eight years old

Cynthia: I grew up in Alaska and stayed until I was in fourth grade, but I always went back as often as possible. At the time my family was in the travel business, working for Alaska Airlines. I never really thought about the difficulties of life up north, but the 60-below-zero weather and walking home in pitch dark were probably the downsides. I miss the incredible beauty of the landscape there. I had moose in my backyard, went dogsledding often, made snow angels and had lots of fun skiing and enjoying other winter sports. I also loved traveling to remote areas such as Nome, Kotzebue, Barrow and Glacier Bay, all amazing places to see.

Dianne: What brought you to the Atlanta area?

With my daughter Marissa

Cynthia: I came to Atlanta when my daughter was two years old. I have some relatives here, and I'd never been anywhere in the South. I knew the market was very good here for full-time modeling. As Atlanta continued to expand in the areas of film and publishing, I had plenty of work. I was also able to use my experience in doing makeup and hair for major catalogs. So I just packed up -- and here I've stayed for 14 years.

Me on the cover of Playboy's Working Women

Me on the cover of Playboy's Book of Lingerie, March/April 1989

Dianne: The Most Frequently Asked Question: How did you become a Playboy cover girl?

Cynthia: I had been modeling for a jewelry designer named Go-Go Fuller, who is quite famous for her exotic, nature-oriented designs. She works with shark vertebrae, armadillo and all sorts of natural items she turns up on Cumberland Island, Georgia. She designed the wedding rings for JFK Jr. and Caroline, who were good friends of hers and who married on Cumberland Island. After Go-Go was written up in an article in People magazine, she decided to submit her work to Playboy. Jeff Cohen, Publisher of Playboy Special Editions, called back to ask who the model was in the photos. I submitted my portfolio and was soon flown to Chicago to shoot the first of my four Playboy covers in 1987. The first Playboy cover was called Working Women; I also did three International covers. About a year later Playboy called again, and asked me to come shoot the March/April 1989 Book of Lingerie cover, as well as several more International covers. I decided to go forward with my idea of producing. I knew I had the talent and the experience in makeup, hairstyling and production, so I presented the idea to Pat Pappengelis, then the Vice President of Playboy. I asked Pat to let me produce the Southeast region. She gave me a shot at it, and I'm still producing 13 years later.