[cqnew1648]

Thanks, Kwaidan, for your note. And you’re right to be skeptical. We won’t really know the truth about the Dear PM column until a former Dear PM speaks with us. And your cynicism about PB is justified. As I noted before on our thread, I was shocked when Patti Farinelli told us her voice was dubbed on her PB video. She was not pleased.

There was also the pernicious slide at PB in those years away from natural beauty. The best list I’ve read discovered only one augmented PM before 1974, but after that the floodgates opened. Three of the POYs from the PMs of 1980 through 1985 were non-naturals, and sadder still, the pressure was so intense from the non-naturals that two of the naturals who won during those years had implants after they won. Natural beauty took a beating. I don’t wish to disparage anyone, male or female, who choses cosmetic surgery or dyes their hair or whatever to feel better or express themselves. But PB for most of us fans is supposed to be about the natural beauty of the friendly, outgoing girl-next-door. It’s supposed to be the real Miss America pageant. It wasn’t any more. We’re right to question everything about PB in those years and to be angry about Hef’s decision to tarnish the POY competition in favor of non-naturals and his love interests.

All this brings to mind Lily Tomlin’s great line: “No matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up.”

So I hope we keep questioning, as we try to winnow the admirable from the not-so-admirable. Even if Dear PMs was on the up and up, a lot wasn’t. And true fans always question, whether it's PB, baseball, or the judging at the Olympics. It shows we care. Not a surprise that millions of guys still have heartfelt opinions about who should have been POY in a given year, but no one argues about who should have won at the pageant in Atlantic City. We’re fans. We care!