Hef Rex - The Legacy of Playboy

[Donna Tavoso]

I want to be clear that what I was opposed to was saying Hef is
Mr. Playboy and now here is this person who is going to be the new Hef
now that Hef is no longer with us, I stand behind my belief that you
can't replace him -- although I agree with Peggy in my belief that
this day is farther away than some others believe; every source I have
at the magazine puts him in good health.  I know everyone who writes
here hopes that is so.  But having a spokesperson for Playboy, an
editor, the current Playmate or a classic playmate is far different
than naming a successor.  In that sense Hef has chosen his successor
and his name is Jim Kaminsky.  He is the face that the business
community sees and he talks to the media when it's appropriate -- and
if he wanted to be in the spotlight with stars he could. I was
fortunate enough to be at the Super Bowl party and watched him take a
back seat to Hef on the red carpet -- I think it's a matter of respect
for the man who is still the editor-in-chief of the magazine.  Jim
doesn't need to be on Page 6 of the Post or on E! right now, I have
every faith that if the time arrives he will be more than capable to
stepping up to the plate and being that person.  But he will never be
Hef and he will never live at the Mansion, but I think that part of
the legacy can live on in other ways, such as the suggestion of having
various Playmates be the Mistresses

At the end of the day my belief is that you don't build an empire
without a plan for what is going to happen when you are gone.  Whether
that plan is public or not is a completely different story.  My belief
is that Hef has always had a plan and it's a plan that changes -- I
think he is too smart not to and too smart not to continue to evolve
it.  And as someone who had a trust, I can tell you that there are
many restrictions that can be placed on what happens to its contents,
including whether or not things can be sold and when.

Malcolm Forbes was the brainchild behind Forbes -- he was their
spokesperson and in many ways he was their Hef.  He personified the
lifestyle that you read Forbes to achieve.  And yes I realize that it
is a very different magazine and all that -- and yes his children were
much older when he passed away, but the magazine and its message have
lived on -- and is more profitable today than when he was alive.

As far as Playboy becoming a soulless corporate machine, I guess this
is an area that I am just going to have to say that Playboy already is
a corporation, yes one that only has Playboy, so the world would be
different if the company was bought by a Hearst or a Conde Nast, but
that doesn't mean it would be worse.  My god, with some of the money
Conde Nast spends on things, life could be great for Playboy if they
were bought.  At the at the end of the day a corporation is made up of
the people who work there and my experience is that the passion that
most people who work at Playboy have for the brand will keep it from
ever becoming a soulless corporate vehicle.

Donna