Hugh Hefner passed away last night.
I'll be honest: I hadn't known he was still alive. Such a terrible thing to say, sure, but he has been properly old for as long as I can remember. That said, what life live! Hef is most definitely not "going to a better place" in death; he lived every man's heaven on earth for decades.
Rest in peace, Hef; thank you for the, uh, articles.
In truth, I grew up at a time which Playboy magazine wasn't the only outlet with nude photographs of women, so Hef's magnum opus wasn't seminal to my life as it were to those of generations older. I grew up with the Internet, so written articles wasn't obstacles I had to flip through before getting to the good stuff. However, "stuff" on the Inter-webs wouldn't be what it was and is today if not for Hef opening the door for sexual expression - of both sexes, and for that I salute him.
If there's a side to Hef I find perverse, it's that he seems to only find merits of physical beauty towards woman of in their 20's and early 30's. Evidence is obvious in his marriages and dating history, plus later in his life effectively running a harem of young buxom blonds in their 20's at the Playboy Mansion. It's sick, and counter to what his Playboy empire has done for feminism otherwise.
Safe to say in these modern times there will never be another person like Hef.