This Week In Obituaries: Hugh Hefner

This one hurts.

Hugh Hefner, most noted as the founder of Playboy magazine, has died at the age of 91. The media mogul actually started his career as a dirty cartoonist of sorts but would end up leading a sexual revolution when he started Playboy magazine in 1953.

Hef would continue producing cartoons for the magazine (that would later be included in a book) , but for my money, Playboy magazine had some of the most soul-searching interviews in our generation. Hugh was a staunch supporter of equal rights through his entire life and would not only launch a successful media empire, but his mansion became a status symbol in it of itself. To this day, there are tales of debauchery that we’ll never get to hear about, but everyone from the likes of Seth Green to Donald Trump used to stop on over. Hugh would go on to have a career in television, even launching the Playboy channel, and then would pop up from time-to-time in popular TV shows including Family Guy and The Simpsons. 

Any journalistic outlet today that doesn’t claim to be influenced by Playboy in some way, is either lying or terrible. The publication influence a legion of kids that would grow up and hopefully be able to walk a fraction of the journey that Hugh Hefner has.

Thanks, Hugh.

Regards,