Karen Elaina Price

[will101]

Originally Posted by cqnew1648

I check the “thread rating” for Softcore Models fairly regularly, because I’ve always been interested in the opinions of our fellow VEF members. Karen is still number one, but it looks like a group of people got together last week to drop the ranking of virtually every Softcore model on VEF. Their work was so thorough that only six models are still rated as “Fives” out of 5806—a dramatic drop from 42 the previous week (which struck me as low to begin with!). What’s most shocking is that they sent some of the most beautiful women ever to appear in PB—all of whom were in the top twenty for months—out of the top 100, including Cynthia Myers, Marilyn Lange, et al. I suspect that the only reason that Karen, Candy Loving, and Kimberly MacArthur survived as fives is because so many of us took the time to rate them as fives—not because the people involved in this effort meant to spare them. It seems that their goal was to leave no one with a rating of five. They didn’t hit the hardcore forums, just the softcore forum. I have no idea what their motives were, or if they targeted particular models for particular reasons. I wonder if anyone might know.

Once again, it’s a reason for admirers of the great PMs to register their admiration by rating their threads a “five,” because otherwise, younger members new to VEF won’t have the benefit of the thoughts of the majority of VEF members—just the thoughts of this particular group, which does not, it appears, share our appreciation of the great PMs of the classic era.

I noticed when this happened. And I played with the numbers a little bit. I believe that it was just one person, possibly an existing member in a sock puppet account. The numbers clearly indicate that all of the ladies in question received a single one star rating on their threads at about the same time. I was flabbergasted when this occurred, but I didn't post anything, because I wasn't sure how the moderators would react to such a post.

[cqnew1648]

I wondered how best to honor Karen for reaching a million views and for reigning for more than a year as the top-rated softcore model on VEF. Rather than write something new, I decided to search the internet for more fan tributes to Karen. I couldn’t find any that were as thoughtful or thought-provoking as the ones we’ve already shared on our thread. Most were in the vein of “OMG!” Many forums have simply copied our posts (without attribution), rather than contribute to the discussion. I wish they’d contribute, but we can take heart in the fact that fans elsewhere consider our two threads the best for Karen on the Internet.

I enjoyed, however, the post of one poor fellow. He caught a glimpse of Karen for the first time in an unidentified photo—her test shot in the blue shirt by a fence—and he was beside himself.



The poor fellow became so discombobulated that he forgot how to write a coherent sentence:

“JESUS CHRIST How is this?”

A fan came to the rescue in the next post: “If you mean ‘who is this,’ then the answer is Karen Price!” But the poor fellow asked a fair question: “how” is it possible for a woman to be so beautiful, so stunning that we can’t get her out of our heads from the first moment we see her? I remember the first time I saw Karen. I bought a copy of the January 1981 because Barbara Bach was on the cover, one of the great beauties of Karen’s era. I turned first to Barbara’s layout, which was well done. But from the moment I laid eyes on Karen, Barbara has been sadly neglected. I don’t mean to hurt Barbara’s feelings, but I haven’t looked at her photos in years. And I’m not alone in being overwhelmed by Karen. She features prominently in a number of PB fan forums that touch on the same theme: “Name Your Goddess,” “Photos you always come back to,” “Picture that you give in to immediately,” and my favorite, “She’s just so CUTE it HURTS!”

I enjoyed as well the blog by Toby Petzold, who posted his list of “The 50 Most Beautiful Women (Not Personally Known to Me).” He said “This is probably the craziest sort of list to make, but everybody has an idea about who's beautiful, so why not? At least I'm not charging your sorry ass for it like People magazine does.” His list is heavy with celebrities and fashion models. Elizabeth Taylor came out on top and only four PMs made Toby’s top 50. He ranked Marilyn Monroe lowest of the four at #24, confessing that “I've never really been obsessed with her like you're supposed to be.” He was enthusiastic about the two PMs who he ranked in the second ten: Donna Edmondson (“a delight and just one more reason why it's good to be alive”) and Roberta Vasquez (“If you are unmoved by the merest glimpse of this woman's beauty, then you are a dead Catholic priest”). But he has a special place in his heart for Karen, who made his top ten, right between Ann Margaret and Halle Berry. Marilyn Monroe may not move him, but Karen does. “This lady is my very favorite Playboy Playmate. All of her parts are in perfect working order and she is a credit to the human race. I wonder where she is these days.” Lots of bloggers and posters wonder the same thing. They wish that she’d come out of retirement and appear in a PB former-PM pictorial. There’s no chance that will happen, but as one fan put it,

Ms. Price. Most Definitely the greatest physical spectacle ever to grace the centerfold! From this photo, hard to imagine she was only 20 years old at the time. I was 14, and from seeing her, I definitely thought all women should look like her. I would love to see what she looks like now. I know she's 50 or 51 today, but I bet she would give a PM X-tra justice!

Karen certainly would do the feature justice—especially in the opinion of guys who have commented on the photo taken when she performed acrobatic stunts at a Lakers’ game. She’s still a stunner.

There’s no question, of course, that much of the commentary on the web about Karen is sexual—about her stunning physical attributes or the erotic power of her photos. Guys just can’t praise her enough, and they are desperate for PB to empty the vault and share every photo they have of Karen. But what’s remarkable, as we’ve noted here, is that the comments about Karen are almost always appreciative, rather than crude, even when they are focused on a particular part of Karen’s anatomy, no small thing when every part of Karen’s anatomy has received voluminous praise. Guys never love just one thing about Karen. And what’s even more remarkable is that nearly every comment about Karen is not only sexual, but romantic. As one smitten fan says, “Oh My God !!!! How beautiful Karen Price is!!! I’d give everything for a night with her!” This guy would be happy to stay for breakfast—and then some—if he ever had the chance. And that’s Karen’ remarkable appeal. She “oozes sex,” as one fan put it. She invites us to think sexual thoughts about her. There’s no other way to describe the looks she gives us.




Karen wants us to think sexual thoughts about her. She wouldn’t have become a PM if she didn’t. She does everything she possibly can to make us think those thoughts. And she doesn’t want us to feel embarrassed by those thoughts or the feelings they arouse. She wants us to enjoy them, as she does. But she also wants us to think romantic thoughts about her. She wants us to want to be with her as a person, and she succeeds, thanks to the power of the fantasy that she and PB created. That’s what’s so remarkable about Karen. Guys are obsessed with Karen sexually, no doubt, and driven to an erotic frenzy at the thought of her, as she hoped—but they’re in love with her too. That’s no small feat and a testament to Karen's emotional power and, as we’ve said on many occasions, to the warmth of her smile, her athletic talent, and the thoughtfulness and candor of her interviews. As one fan put it,

Karen Price was always one of the Playmates that you remembered, even though it's been over 15 years since I picked up a Playboy. She had the attractiveness that caught your attention, [whatever] she was wearing. Not to mention that she came over as a real person, which is a funny thing to be saying about a model in a men's magazine.

Karen has other wonderful qualities that we haven’t yet put into words. But it’s a tough thing to look spectacular when you’re not wearing a stitch and still have guys think of you first, foremost, and always as a person. Karen manages that better than any PM ever, which is why she’s still the fairest of all on VEF.

[cqnew1648]

Following up on my previous post, here are a few tributes from another site on which Karen is the “favorite playmate.”

The Best there is,
The Best there was,
The Best there ever will be!
Simply the BEST!


First Playboy I ever owned.
I`ll never forget her.
Beauty have mercy on me!


I've gotten Playboy since 1980 and Karen Price is the all-American girl next door every guy dreams of!! She has it all: the ambition, the athleticism, and of course, the best body ever seen by man!!

I have admired Karen since she was first in Playboy. I always thought of her as a dream wife, simply because she was a month younger than me. I would love to meet her and tell her that … God Bless the gorgeous former Playmate

With all her body extravaganza, it’s her face that sets her apart!
She is the hottest playmate ever and still is. Total girl next door. Just dream all day of her. Gorgeous.

I sat next to her in 4th grade Miss Bader's class she was a good girl then and probably still is…..If she ever see's this remember the Football book we wrote in????

[cqnew1648]

I saw something in my search for fan tributes that struck me as odd. It’s an autographed 8” by 10” picture of Karen that is unlike any of the signed promotional photos I’ve seen of her, all of which have featured her head and shoulders or a swimsuit shot.



This photo strikes me as too hot for promotional photo, and I think the first time we saw the photo was when the CC released its first portfolio of Karen. The vendor, who specializes in authenticated autographs, swears that Karen’s signature is genuine. It looks like her signature, and it was made with a blue sharpie, the standard implement that PMs used to sign autographs at appearances sponsored by PB at the time. But I doubt its authenticity.

Does anyone know more about this sort of thing? I can’t imagine that Karen would have been pleased to have been signing and handing out this photo at a public event, given her distaste for signing nude pictures of herself. And I’ve never seen anything this hot in any other PM’s promo portfolio. But maybe I’ve been out of the loop!

[cqnew1648]

It was fun as well to read fans’ thoughts about particular pictures of Karen. The thoughts expressed are a bit more "rough" than the one's we've shared among ourselves about Karen, so let me know if I should drop the post. But I thought I'd share what I found and let everyone else decide.

Billy Black waxes poetic about Karen as she hunches her shoulders on the bed.



I like this picture. Karen Price is delightful. It seems like Ken Marcus asked her to shrug so her breasts would be lifted. It makes her appear to be holding some doubts or reservations like, "I dunno, I think my boobs are too big. Do you think my boobs are too big?"

Too big for what? This room? Any ordinary Brassiere? Too big to fail? Too big for Playboy?

No, no Karen. They are just right for Playboy. Just perfect the way they are.

And there are the thoughts posted on Venus Observer, a site of a critic who blogs about the aesthetics of softcore photography. Triple P admits that his tastes run to women who are less well-endowed, but he can’t help but make an exception for Karen, especially when he looks at one of the most heart-pounding pictures ever to appear in PB.



Triple P has an annoying habit of writing in the third person (like Jimmy on Seinfeld), but his appreciation for the photos that Karen and Ken Marcus made is heartfelt.

Triple P has never been a big bust man in real life. Amongst his former girlfriends [only two] could be said to have had really big busts. He finds girls with very big busts can look rather odd, especially, ironically, when dressed. However, there is a certain visual power a large bust can have in glamour photographs when femininity tends to be exaggerated anyway. A very good example of this is Karen Elaine Price from 1981. Playboy loves big busts and few have been as impressive as Miss Price’s. Photographer Ken Marcus, who originally worked for Penthouse, makes it quite clear what the focus of his picture is. Price’s amazing 38 inch breasts shine forth from the page like two giant moons; their pale skin making them appear to float in three dimensions above the rest of her body, artfully crammed into a three page format.

Oh heck, Triple P, admit that you’re in love and that she’s got you missing those old girlfriends! But his point is well taken—Karen, like many voluptuous women, does look best in loose fitting clothes that draw our gaze to her lovely face, or in form-fitting athletic wear. Oddly enough, I think bikinis do Karen an injustice. Of course, we have only a few poor quality shots of Karen wearing two-piece bathing suits, but I must confess that I feel they leave poor Karen betwixt and between. I love seeing her in her acrobatic or gymnastic outfits, and I would love to see her in a one-piece bathing suit. They give us a wonderful opportunity to admire her curves. Bikinis don’t flatter Karen, in my opinion, the way that one-piece suits do. And Karen seems to agree. Whenever she’s in performing public and it’s up to her, she’s wearing a one piece leotard or swimsuit, or a shirt that reveals only her tummy. But she does have those tan lines, so maybe I’m dead wrong. Maybe she’d look great in a bikini of her choosing. I’d be willing to take a chance on that!

I hope that folks will post their thoughts about their favorite photos of Karen—the ones they can’t get out of their heads. That would be a great way to celebrate—and to keep her thread going, knowing that it may be years before PB gives us any new photos of Karen.

[tastavins]

Originally Posted by cqnew1648

I saw something in my search for fan tributes that struck me as odd. It’s an autographed 8” by 10” picture of Karen that is unlike any of the signed promotional photos I’ve seen of her, all of which have featured her head and shoulders or a swimsuit shot.



This photo strikes me as too hot for promotional photo, and I think the first time we saw the photo was when the CC released its first portfolio of Karen. The vendor, who specializes in authenticated autographs, swears that Karen’s signature is genuine. It looks like her signature, and it was made with a blue sharpie, the standard implement that PMs used to sign autographs at appearances sponsored by PB at the time. But I doubt its authenticity.

Does anyone know more about this sort of thing? I can’t imagine that Karen would have been pleased to have been signing and handing out this photo at a public event, given her distaste for signing nude pictures of herself. And I’ve never seen anything this hot in any other PM’s promo portfolio. But maybe I’ve been out of the loop!

I bet that the signature is not original. Take a look to the attached pic of Kym Malin and compare "M" letter of Miss in both pics. For me it's evident that both texts are written by the same person, hence not a real autograph.

[cqnew1648]

Dear Fellow Fans of Karen,

Here’s a review of Karen’s centerfold by Mark Thomlonson, who has thought about just about every PB centerfold from an artistic point of view. I’ve mentioned the substance of it before, but I thought it would be fun to post it. His reviews of other centerfolds are on his website.

http://wekinglypigs.com/reviews/

I found myself agreeing with everything Mark says. Karen’s centerfold is nice. It captures her beautiful curves. But the expression on Karen’s face leaves me somewhat cold, as it does Mark. Karen isn’t fun loving, inviting, or seductive—she’s seems stiff and remote. And you can’t knock Mark’s selection for an alternative centerfold. Yikes! I think of that picture on the orange sheets often when I think of Karen, but I seldom think about her centerfold. Do others feel the same? What photo of Karen do you think would have made the best and most memorable centerfold?

Best, CQ


http://wekinglypigs.com/reviews/198101.txt

To: pml1@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PML1] CC: Karen Price
From: Mark Tomlonson
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:39:14 -0400



In Karen Price's centerfold (January 1981) she is laying down on a soft
bed or sofa. This is a centerfold that is almost a real winner.

First the good stuff. The graphic composition is first rate. The lines
all lead our eyes to the best parts of Karen, and I don't just mean her
breasts. There are a lot of delightful curves here, and every one is
worthy of extended study. I'm sure we have no shortage of volunteers for
such a project. The sash of her robe is particularly well placed. Her
earrings are lit to draw attention to her beautiful face without
detracting from the rest of her.

This pose also works very well for Karen. It really shows off her
softness without introducing any awkwardness. It would have been so easy
to put a woman with Karen's build in a pose like this and completely
destroy her wonderful curves. The low contrast, even light and the fur
bedthrow further highlight the softness.

Where this centerfold falls just short of the mark is in Karen's
expression. It's one where I can't tell if she's relating to me in a
positive or negative way, or to the photographer.

Photographer: Ken Marcus

Scoring:
Pin-up: 3.0
Erotic: 3.0
Artistic: 4.0

Overall: 3.2 out of 4.0

Cyber Club Portfolio Photo I like better than the Centerfold: #3



Mark Tomlonson
Kalamazoo MI

[cqnew1648]

A favorite picture of Karen--and a captivating sequence of photos

I thought I’d try my hand at describing why I love one of my favorite photos of Karen. It’s not my only all-time favorite of Karen—I have too many of those. But it’s special, because it sends such wonderful, yet complicated messages about Karen’s thoughts and feelings.



Karen’s adorable here, with a warm, shy smile on her face, as she tries as best she can to cover herself up with an all-too-small fur-covered pillow. She’s the perfect ingénue—endearing, wholesome, and guileless. She looks so fresh, so sweet, so hopeful, so eager to please, so happy to see us and be with us, that we can’t help but fall in love with her and feel that she’s opening her heart to us. She’s a bit tense and uncharacteristically stiff, as we might expect from the unusual circumstances in which Karen finds herself, but her body language only adds to the unpracticed charm of her photo. She’s a neophyte, as she freely admits, far beyond her accustomed depth—and we can’t help but root for her and feel for her and love her all the more for posing for us. Of course, Karen may be tense simply because of the challenge of holding a pose that’s unnatural even for a practiced gymnast, or because of a momentary lapse of confidence, fretting as lovely women sometimes do whether we’ll find her beautiful. But given her well-known fears, I think it’s more likely that Karen is anxious and happy to have that pillow. It’s the bedroom—every PM’s moment of truth—and she may well be nervous about being so exposed, scared by the thought of how explicit she might be asked to be, and worried about how this adventure—on which she embarked reluctantly and with great trepidation—will turn out.

Yet there she is, bravely baring herself for us in the hope we’ll enjoy her and treat her with the respect she deserves for having risked so much, not only for her career in show business, but for us. Gloriously nude on a brass bed with red satin pillows and sheets, she hunches her shoulders in a slightly awkward, girlish pose and leans forward so she can dazzle us with her breasts. We can tell she’s embarrassed to do so, but she plumps them up for us and lets them touch as they cascade from her shoulders to her waist and spill out to her sides in beautiful curves. To me, it’s magical. Karen, despite her fears, offers herself to us in a most intimate, affectionate way. She projects at once her innocence and vulnerability, her modesty, generosity, and good heart, her sexuality and sensuality, her anxiety and daring, and her kindness and compassion for poor souls like us who long to be with a woman as beautiful as she—qualities that reflect, I think, the way she saw herself. No PM has ever sent those mixed messages more powerfully than Karen, because they came from her heart. That’s why her photo is riveting. PB didn’t miss a trick when it published it twice.

I imagine that the photo was taken shortly after Karen began her shoot on the bedroom set. It’s a perfect opening for that shoot—an invitation to what’s to come. But I’m not sure it came easily. I hope that PB was attentive to Karen’s feelings as a young, ambivalent, inexperienced model, and sensitive enough to begin her PM shoot at the beach and in the gym, where she felt at home. It seems they were adept at the psychology of non-professional modeling, which is why they asked Karen to perform athletic moves in the gym and to go no further than topless, and why they let her frolic on the patio, on the beach, and in the surf, asking no more than that she enjoy her day in the sun. It must have been daunting for her, however, when she went to the mansion for her bedroom shoot, and walked onto that fake bedroom set wearing nothing but a robe. I would love to have had a penny for her thoughts at that moment. I have the feeling that walking onto that set—designed expressly for her and awash in colors that flattered her—would have been hard. Karen doesn’t strike me as a wild, impulsive free spirit, like Patti Farinelli, who admitted that she was ready for anything at that stage in her life. Karen must have been anxious, knowing what was expected of her when she saw that bed. From what little we’ve been able to see of her shoot, it appears that Ken Marcus took things slowly at first. He sat her up against the pillows and probably let her open her gown slowly, a bit more with each shot. The one photo that PB has shared of Karen at the head of the bed is a beauty.



It captures Karen’s warmth, as she draws us in with her beautiful brown eyes and a hint of a smile. But it’s not terribly erotic. It’s simply a relaxed, demure pose of a breathtaking woman—a classic boudoir shot.

Soon after, however, Ken Marcus asked Karen to get her kit off, and if I’m right about which photo came next, she was unnerved. I hope that Masque can someday find a pristine copy of this photo and work his magic on it—we only have a single dark copy on Karen’s VEF thread. It may be more compelling than it appears from this scan. But Karen hides behind her fluffed-up fur pillow for all it’s worth.



She braces herself stiffly with her right arm and covers the lower reaches of her breasts, and her expression is uncharacteristically distant--much like the expression on her face in her test photos. She gazes into our eyes, but I have the feeling that she’s watching us, rather than inviting us to come closer and spend time with her. It suggests to me that Karen was ill at ease, and perhaps apprehensive, as she sat stark naked on a bed in front of a camera crew and thought about the millions of PB fans who would soon see her. And it would have been hard for her not to worry. She was past the point of no return. She was going to be a PM. The only question was whether things would turn out well or poorly. Karen never lost her anxiety about sharing her beauty with the world. I wish she had, so she could enjoy to the fullest the honor of being one of the greatest and most beloved PMs of all time. I wish she had been at ease, as Candy Loving was, standing proudly in front of a giant blowup of her centerfold or signing nude pictures of herself for a happy fan at the Fortieth Anniversary Playboy Expo.



Karen worried that people would have a low opinion of her, and she had a hard time looking at nude pictures of herself and thinking about the sexual desire she inspired in her fans. Her anxiety returned again and again during her years as a PM, and we can see it here, early in her bedroom shoot. It was a tense moment. She was going to go through with it, but could she summon the courage to pour her heart and soul into it, and perform spectacularly?

That’s what makes the photo I love so much (which I think was the next in the sequence) so special. Karen lets go just a bit. She scrunches down her pillow, smiles, and gets in the mood, thanks probably to Ken Marcus’s suggestion that she hunch her shoulders.



She doubtless knew what he was going for when he made that request, and she seems to enjoy the thought of dangling her breasts and leaving us spellbound, even though she looks a bit embarrassed to flaunt herself in that way. It’s an exciting moment for me, because it captures what I believe was the moment when Karen first warmed to task before her and decided to embrace her bedroom shoot—to pull out all the stops and have fun doing it. She knew that her bedroom shoot was for all the marbles. It would be the centerpiece of her layout and would define her in the eyes of PB fans forever. And she knew it was different from her shoots at the gym and the beach. This shoot was about sex. No wonder she hesitated. Karen was heart and soul the wonderful girl next door. She was concerned for her reputation, and she made it a point to tell people at every turn that she was a person with “high moral standards.” Suddenly she found herself in a neighborhood where most girls-next-door fear to tread. That’s why she had asked everyone who cared about her, especially her mom, sister, and grandmother, whether she should accept PB’s invitation to become at PM. She wouldn’t have done it without their support, and it’s a thrill to see her overcome her nerves and begin to feel that she could really do this, even the sexual part, and do it in smashing fashion.

From here on out, if I’m right about the sequence of her photos, Karen becomes more playful, provocative, and seductive with every shot. In the very next photo, she breaks out in a big smile and hunches her shoulders closer together, so she can drop her breasts even farther.



She no longer feels the weight of millions of eyes upon her. She's happy to be with us. And she realizes, as the crew on the set already has, that she’s special—a once in a lifetime PM. Her body language is eloquent: “I’m hot, I’m gorgeous, and I’m impossibly stacked! The crew knows it. I know it. Let’s let the world know it!” Her modesty is gone, and we don’t mind a bit. She’s showing off, determined to fill our dreams with wonderful thoughts of her.

Then she ditches her pillow and performs a gorgeous split. Now Karen’s happily nude. We can see her confidence grow frame by frame, as she invites us for the first time to think frankly sexual thoughts about her. Her sexuality bursts forth.



She spreads her legs provocatively, as widely as she can, and she leans toward us and braces herself with her arms, not because she’s tense, but because she’s determined to thrust out her breasts still farther. They fall like giant raindrops. And her expression is unmistakable: she comes on to us in no uncertain terms. Karen leaves us with one and only one question: “Would you like to make love?” Well, that’s easy to answer!

Karen ends the sequence playfully, with a graceful stretch to the side. She invites us to linger on her powerful, athletic body and her beautiful curves.



But her shoot is already on its way to immortality. She follows Ken Marcus’s direction, but more importantly, she pushes herself, and metamorphoses before our eyes from the ingénue of her gym and beach shoots into a sexual goddess who delights in fulfilling our fantasies and hers. She knows why she’s in the fake bedroom and she delivers with all her heart, shot after shot. It’s impossible to pick a favorite, because she burned up the set. But I still have a special place in my heart for that special photo—when Karen, feeling nervous, shy, excited, vulnerable, embarrassed, bold, and sexy, was on the cusp of the most compelling erotic performance in the history of PB.

[cqnew1648]

If you’re a fan of Karen and haven’t seen it yet, you might enjoy viewing Ken Marcus’s workshop on glamour photography techniques, which was posted by BigBobNobody. You can find it here:

http://www.vintage-erotica-forum.com...&postcount=387

Alas, no Karen, but the vid featured 5 PMs who were PB regulars in the early 1980s.

I must confess that I was taken aback by how clinical, matter-of-fact, and un-sexy glamour photography is. Every PM who has spoken about her photoshoot has spoken about how long things took and what hard work it was—and you can see from this video that they are absolutely right. Also, the video lets you know that Ken Marcus had a clear idea of what he was looking for with each shot, and that he worked very hard to get the right pose, expression, and lighting. It looks a lot less spontaneous than the results do. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have minded being a fly on the wall during Karen’s shoot!


Here’s the blurb and BigBob’s screen grab:

Ken Marcus Workshop - Advanced Glamour Techniques (1986)
________________________________________
The long list of Playboy photographers over the years has included
those men, and sometimes women, that have turned the girl next door
into the girls of our dreams. The same can be said of those fellas behind
the lens of a Penthouse camera as well. One of these skilled gentlemen
happened to work his magic for both publications and in this next special
video I've got for you, will show you just how he goes about doing that
with 5 playmates and a pet of the month. If you've never heard of Ken
Marcus, I assure you, you definitely know his work. With subjects like
Kym Malin, Kymberly Herrin, Barbara Edwards, Tricia Lange, Monique
Gabrielle, and the assistance of Miss April 1984's Lesa Ann Pedriana
helping in the make up department, Ken will show you it's all just a piece
of cake in this 1986 instructional video of.........

[cqnew1648]

Here's an interview with Karen and Jeana Tomasino that appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail in 1981. It's interesting to hear their thoughts on their experiences as PMs. Also, a brief article on the event at which they were scheduled to appear. Between Vegas nights and car shows, they certainly earned their public appearance money!

Jeana did most of the talking, but she and Karen were clearly on the same page. It's interesting to hear Karen think back about her first months as a PM, which, sadly, sound as if they were traumatic. It seems, however, she had found her footing by August 1981 and had decided to focus her energies on stunt work and acrobatics, after her brief flirtation with acting and films. The interview appeared on the eve of Jeana and Karen appearing together in the first "Dear PM" feature (the October 1981 issue, which would be out in a few weeks).

True PB fans will also appreciate the good swift kick that Jeana delivered to an ill-behaved fan!

I hope someone can find the original newspaper. They probably published a photo of Karen and Jeana with the article. I could only find the text of the article.



Spurning life in the fast lane Playmates' number one rule
The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ontario]
Monday, August 10, 1981: p0.17.
SALEM ALATON

Niagara Falls ONT -- BY SALEM ALATON NIAGARA FALLS - Natural splendors were in something of a competitive heat on Saturday when two Playboy Playmates paid a visit to Niagara Falls.

However, Jeana Tomasino and Karen Price, in Toronto from California to take part in Village-By-the-Grange's charity Las Vegas nights on the weekend, didn't mind being upstaged for once.

Although both women only posed for the magazine's centrefold spreads within the past year, Miss Tomasino, 26, has been with the Playboy organization for six years, and knows a thing or two about dealing with attention. "You have to take advice," she cautions, referring to the disorientation that can sometimes fluster a young woman who suddenly must deal with a raft of offers, some legitimate, many not.

The native of Chicago who was raised in Milwaukee brought along a healthy dose of street sense when she moved to Los Angeles, whereas, she says, "most of the Playmates are from small towns; it's the first time they've been exposed to anything." Miss Price, from the San Fernando Valley, is a case in point. Just 20 when she was featured in the magazine, and never having been a model before, she admits to finding the experience a little scary at first. "Everything was coming from every direction. I was afraid I'd become hard, bitchy." A gymnast since the age of 12 (her ambition is to do stunts and acrobatic work), she has thus far managed to avoid becoming a hard case, and as an athlete, she says she neither drinks nor uses illegal drugs, vices that Miss Tomasino says are ubiquitous on the West Coast, particularly in Hollywood.

By the same token, Miss Tomasino and her film-producer boyfriend seldom frequent parties, except for those at Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner's mansion, where the goings-on, she insists, are on the up and up. "I like the high living, but I don't think you need the drugs." Both women agree that Playboy has showed concern for their best interests, and that the involvement with the organization has been good for them. Fresh outcries about Hollywood as Babylon surfaced most recently, of course, with the murder last summer of Dorothy Stratten, the British Columbia girl who became Playmate of the Year only to be shot by her husband, who then committed suicide. Miss Tomasino, who was a close friend, remembers that "she was a very sweet, genuine person who cared about other people. She made a mistake." She says that many people tried to warn Miss Stratten about Paul Snider, her husband, "but when you're young and you think you're in love, that doesn't always help. He was always real big on how he would take care of her. In reality, he had no money, and she paid for everything. He just couldn't see himself losing anything." Miss Tomasino contends that the media added insult to injury by lambasting the Playboy organization for what happened. "They said that she was brought to Hollywood and left defenceless, as if Playboy created her." In a less somber vein, Miss Tomasino, an aspiring actress, quips that she has little to fear from such legendary industry pitfalls as the casting couch: "Most of the producers are gay, anyhow." To which Miss Price adds: "I think they can tell by the girl . . . if they should approach her that way or not." Still, both women say that they frequently encounter men who feel they have a right to indulge in some uninvited physical contact. Miss Tomasino recalls an appearance she made at a car show that Miss Stratten had attended the previous year. She overheard some men boasting that they had forced kisses on the late Playmate, and she says she was so outraged that she gave one of the culprits a kick in the backside.

Playboy-style fame and fortune, however, does have more pleasant aspects. Miss Tomasino claims that, to the chagrin of her stockbroker, she's purchased no fewer than 112 pairs of shoes in the past two years.

Miss Price, more of a down-home type, makes her own clothes but regrets being two sizes too large to borrow from her companion's wardrobe.

As for Hefner, the Playmates say their Playboy chief still attends board meetings dressed in his pajamas, although his famed passion for backgammon has given way lately to a love of Monopoly. Is there a dose of the youngster left in the American entrepreneur now that he's in his fifties? Decidedly, says Miss Tomasino. "I think it's true about men anyway. The difference between a child and a man is the price of his toys." That, apparently, isn't so bad. "When the playing and the fun go out of life," she adds, "your life's over."



BRIEFLY Vegas evenings aid Variety Club
The Globe and Mail [Toronto, Ontario]
Friday, August 07, 1981: p. 17.

Village-by-the-Grange will be the site of two Las Vegas-style evenings tonight and tomorrow night from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Gambling activities feature 40 blackjack tables, roulette and various wheels of fortune. Two Playboy Playmates, Gina Tomassino (Miss November, 1980) and Karen Price (Miss January, 1981) will act as hostesses for the festivities which will also include a showgirl act and a stand-up comic. Proceeds go to the Variety Club of Ontario in support of handicapped children.