Under Construction
Prayboy Selected by Playboy as Best Parody

Chris Kinard shared some interesting background on the Prayboy issue of The Pointer that many of you may not be aware.  HMH Publishing Company (Hugh M. Hefner) sent a purchase order to The Pointer requesting six copies of Prayboy parody be shipped to the Playboy headquarters in Chicago.  Chris was involved in fulfilling the order and received an acknowledgement from Nelson Futch, VP and Promotion Director.  He also received a query from Ralph Welnicki, Production Manager for Playboy questioning why Playboy was banned at West Point.  When asked about the questions raised by Mr. Welnicki, Chris responded:

As far as what happened after the Production Manager wrote, I have drawn a complete blank.  I have always been diligent about correspondence but I haven't found anything.  The only thing I can think of is that was right around the time I was notified that I would not be commissioned and instead receive a medical discharge upon graduation.  My whole life was going off track from what I planned and I probably just let that letter slide right by.

We didn't receive any subsequent retribution from the WP authorities and I don't recall any particular negative reaction.  That was different from the time I published the Ross Wollen interview with Gen. Bradley when he was quoted as saying Montgomery was scared at the Falaise Gap (making news around the world), and my headliner for the Army-Air Force football game - "AMF - Army Mashes Falcons."  In both those cases I was called into the Commandant's office and well and truly reamed.

Those of us who collaborated on that issue, and on the Pointer in general for those years, were extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish under the circumstances.

Chris

Chris also shared a page from the 20th Anniversary issue of Playboy where The Pointer parody, Playboy, was singled out as one of the two best along with a submission from the Stanford Chaparral.  The editor of the Chaparral, Bradley Efron, was suspended for two quarters for publishing Layboy, the Stanford parody, in 1961.  "The Chaparral articles have been criticized by members of the alumni, faculty and student legislature as 'crude, vulgar, but funny.'"

It is interesting to note that there is considerable information on the Layboy parody on the web but I have been unable to find nothing on Prayboy.