Like all of Karen’s fans, I’m delighted that she signed up in the fall of 1981 for a two-year stint as a regular contributor to PB’s new monthly feature, Dear PMs. It’s a treat to hear her thoughts and to have so many more pictures of her (albeit small ones). PB clearly knew how special Karen is and what great pictures they still had in the vault. That’s why, I'm sure, they featured her in the first ever Dear PM column and invited her to be a regular. PB ran the column initially with only 7 PMs, and Karen was the only one to appear in every column during the first six months. And PB wasn’t shy about counting on Karen to sell the column and the magazine. In the first issue in which the column ran (October 1981), Karen appeared in the most erotic photo ever to appear in the column (they toned it down after that), and she appeared in that month’s subscription ad as well.
Karen also appeared in the most playful and seductive picture in the column’s history in February, 1982.
PB’s staff clearly knew Karen was the darling of PB fans: as a friend on VEF put it in a private message, “she has the face of an angel and the body of a fertility goddess!” The Art Department realized that Karen’s shoot by the fireplace was as scorching hot as her brass bed shoot and knew it would be a shame to waste it. And to top it off, Ken Marcus won the Annual Prize in 1981 for the Best Playmate Pictorial for his shoot with Karen.
PB hadn’t yet figured out that we’d pay handsomely for annual review specials to see more of Karen’s photos, but they realized she could “move product.” She could to this day, if they ever figure out a way to profit from what’s in the vault. Karen was so popular that she appeared 17 times during the two years she participated in the column.
We can take heart, then, that the business office, the editorial staff, and the Art Department knew, as we do, who should have been POY. Too bad only one man’s vote counted—and a tainted vote at that. But I know we should be grateful to Hef nonetheless—no Hef, no PB, no Karen!