[cqnew1648]

Kwaidan raises a great question: did the PMs featured in the Dear PMs column answer the questions that PB posed, or did PB staffers answer the questions? I hope that we’ll be able to chat with a Dear PMs correspondent some day and learn first-hand how they were recruited and how the column worked. But I’m almost certain they answered the questions themselves. The first reason I think so is that PB featured very few PMs in the column, and it featured a handful of those a dozen times or more. As Alan DeMoss noted in his VEF post on the column, a handful of PMs gave the bulk of the responses (see below, with the PMs who appeared in the first six columns enumerated). Why feature Lorraine Michaels 40 times, and Barbara Edwards and Donna Edmondson only 5 times each? If PB was making up answers, why not feature their POYs? Why go to the trouble to make up copy for Lorraine so many times? And PB went back to 1975 to enlist Azizi Johari. Why not make up stuff for Patti McGuire or Debra Fondren if you were going back that far? Both kept up strong relationships with PB and with Hef, so they probably would have participated if asked. The numbers don’t add up to a fraud.

And then there is the content. I’m sure someone with a gift for this sort of thing could run a program to figure out if a single author wrote all of Lorraine Michaels’ columns, and a different author all of Cathy Larmouth’s, etc. That would be a better statistical test. But what strikes me most, as a fan of Karen, is that we do hear her voice in her responses, just as we did in the copy in the January 1981 issue. Was she serious about her ambition to teach acrobatics in her own school? Yes. Was she serious about staying fit and healthy? In Australian PB, she said "I don't drink, smoke, or take drugs. I never have and I never will. Maybe I'm just a health nut, but I just don't believe in putting certain substances into my system." Was she serious about what she looked for in guys? She was clear that she liked “active” guys,” a guy who is “healthy and takes care of himself,” and who’d seek her out in some athletic setting. Biking, gymnastics, acrobatics were her thing—not drinking. Not a surprise that she ended up happily married to an athletic, active, adventurous guy who shared her ambition to be an acrobat and teach acrobats—a kindred spirit. Her answer to the question differed from those of the other PMs, and it was clearly in her own voice. She was speaking for herself. And given that PB values its professional relationships with its PMs, I think it would have been unthinkable—and bad for business—to put fake words in their mouths and to put them in the feature without their consent. The fact that Karen and a few others appeared so many times suggests that PB did have their consent.

And finally, I don’t think it’s a surprise that PMs would give frank answers to questions about sex, romance, and relationships. They are folks—god bless them—who were “out there” in a wonderful way and who were probably to a person women who enjoyed sex and being sexual beings. Why else pose for PB? It wouldn’t be a surprise if they embraced the non-sexist aspects of the PB philosophy, which at its best tried to promote healthier attitudes toward sex and greater knowledge about sex in a nation that was way behind on both fronts—and still is.

40 - Lorraine Michaels [I, II, IV, V, VI]
28 - Cathy Larmouth [III, IV, V, VI]
25 - Cher Butler
22 - Tracy Vaccaro
20 - Susie Scott
18 - Sherry Arnett, Marcie Hanson [I, II, III, IV, VI]
17 - Azizi Johari, Karen Price [I, II, III, IV, V, VI], Julie Peterson, Liz Stewart
16 - Lynne Austin, Laurie Carr
14 - Marlene Janssen
12 - Cathy St George
11 - Carol Ficatier, Rebecca Ferratti, Lesa Pedriana
10 - Luann Lee, Venice Kong
9 - Roberta Vasquez, Brandi Brandt
8 - Lisa Welch [I, II, III, V], Michelle Drake
7 - Jeana Tomasino [I, II, III. IV, V], Kathy Shower, Kym Paige
6 - Denise Mcconnell, Rebecca Armstrong, India Allen, Anna Clark, Missy Cleveland, Anne-Marie Fox, Marianne Gravatte, Debi Johnson, Vicki Mccarty [I, II, III, IV, V], Linda Rhys-Vaughn, Lynda Wiesmeier
5 - Barbara Edwards, Donna Edmondson, Marina Baker
4 - Teri Weigel, Kim Mccarthur, Kym Malin, Ava Fabian
3 - Victoria Cooke (VI), Eloise Broady, Terri Doss, Kim Morris, Patty Duffek, Alana Soares, Laura Richmond
2 - Pia Reyes, Christine Richters, Julie McCullough, Penny Baker, Kari Kennell, Patty Farinelli, Veronica Gamba
1 - Shannon Tweed (VI)


P.S.: The Roman numerals indicate which PMs appeared in the first six Dear PM columns. Karen was the only PM to appear in all six.