Dream Found Between the Cover Sheets of Hustler

dream found between the cover sheets of hustler

Rexford Henderson By came managing editor of the magazine. in what they do. It is the dissemination of make the attempts," he added. Bruce David -- Editor usually concerns At 36 he has not succeeded fully at information that makes ' his profession kinds himself with the of dreams men have rich and famous. Unless one said.-Tha- .becoming worthwhile, he and expressing The . founders of the American Dream", on some lithsome lass she while gazing as reads the Hustler flag one wouldn't know his point of view. looking for the freedom to live their lives down the street. He them A't Puritan-founde- sashays portrays who he is. $60,000 a year he is "com- In our d David with independence and would the cover sheets country, autonomy, between of Hustler maga- fortable" he says, but not rich. said he expects his writing will never really never have approved of Bruce David. But zine. He has succeeded at saying what he change people's minds. , they established a tradition for him to rea- as Hustle? David, executive editor, wants and he is getting paid for it. "But that doesn't preclude the need to lize his1 American Dream. lives the dream, the fantasies, of millions of American males. One imagines him sur- "I have been consistent about maintain- rounded by barely-cla- d nymphets while he ing my independence. I have never, been in- coolly puffs on a briar pipe and directs the volved in an organization where I felt production of lurid photo pages. trapped," he said. Whether he lives that Hugh Hefner-styl- e He said he enjoyed writing a column for life is debatable. But he has lived his Screw the most. Screw publisher At Gold- American Dream. stein never censored anything he said in His he said from Los dream, the Angeles the column in any way, David says. Arid' office of Flynt Publications, was to "be Goldstein always supported David. I would have said paid for saying things Goldstein paid the legal expenses when anyway." David was sued for calling Playgirl magazine "the leading homosexual magazine." David had not reflected much on the "I thought it was a valid statement," American Dream and at first defined his David said. Most of the advertisements in dream with a flippant "to be rich and Playgirl, a magazine picturirig nude men, famous." was aimed at men, not women, he said. In But he later admitted that there were an informal survey David did by standing dreams and idols that guided him to where near the kiosks of N.Y.C, David said he he is now. counted more men buying the magazine He is the son of a prosperous New York than women. City exporter who spent his early 20s as David defended the journalistic integrity a N.Y.C. social worker and school teacher. of the "skin trade" (as he unabashedly calls But his idol wasn't Jane Addams, found-- , his He .out'that "es- profession). pointed' er of Hull house. It was men like Lenny tablishment" pubUcations hlce the New Bruce and Paul Krassner, he said men who York Times die supported by advertising stand up and criticize society's hypocrisies and that Hustler depends more upon maga- and get paid for doing it. zine sales revenue. He began writing cartoons for N.Y.C. That leaves-- Hustler freer to attack the underground newspapers, and quickly left corporate elite that he said controls the the security of a steady job to become a country. David said Hustler's recent expose free lance writer. on cigarette companies and t its 5, Vf .. anti-smoki- ng campaign could not be done" He worked as the sound and art direc- in the Times. ) f tor for an Andy Warhol film and wrote for Penthouse, Playboy and Screw magazines. ; David said the contribution of the skini He worked for peanuts for years, David to American has been magazines journalism rCT" V'"1 said, but stayed with it because "it was cre- substantial. j ative and fun." "Some of the best information on the He first began making money about assassinations (Kennedy,: King) has been, 1974 with Midnight Blue, a sex-oriente- d, published in skin magazines if you include closed-circu- it television program, he Penthouse and Playboy. They have hit on helped write. environmental issues and the liberation About two years ago he said he "recog- movementsand sexual repression ". nized that Hustler would be the most dy- - Skin magazine writers are among the namic publication on the market." He be best journalists, he insisted, and take pride -

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k . - - ' ; ' I . 4 V j ; Walden -- IWiatV this have to do with the American bfeam?n . the time father than simply anti-pare- nt So I tried some of BjrRay ; Greg Sampson was dozing uneasily in an 1 1th Street XMlc been "running from it Always have been, until the freaky religious stuff." bus stop shelter when I shook him awake . v y recently , My father always pushed this American Dream . 4How did that work out?" rV He "You a ' bit Make something out of yourself, something better. Be "Hell, the cults are more corporate than General glanced up, cop?"' i ' .,, - .c;-:..,-..-- ' 4No. . ." somebody, somebody better. Grab a stake in life and . Motors. I was pulling in several hundred a day for the - "Then go away." He closed his eyes again. ; , build it up to have something to show for your work." Moonies.! got out and joined a farm commune. They "Heh, remember me? I worked at thfl Gazette ""didn't care, who they let in, but they kicked them out fiist Ray? -- -- - when . 1 know the " - if new didn't do farm work or in outside you were there, about five years ago." 7 ;r , story." v people bring "Yeah, the tall one. You had acne then."! '..... - . "He used to take me to football games and tell me how money. Very much work ethic type of stuff. Some cth:r -- 1 were nihilistic Arr.sri-canisn- v "And your hair was much longer. . J almost didn't ""life was always at fourth down and five. places checked out more about recognize you in that suit coat and tie! And that brief- : "So I punted. I got fed up with hearing about ambition I liked that at first, until I catrht on to the case." y.. i va . v and getting ahead. I switched from business Cthoueht that rildlim is the ssme'cs ccnfcrrJ.y." , i':! i my major ioj " "j . ' He opened it and took out an applet "Have a slice?" psychology and; moved into, a commune. The Gazette .n''iuji?"''' -- A-TT- ke who the American Dream is "No thanks. What doing these days?" - j .thing came laten I got into socialism because my father 'gay b'ys contrcUci you dad. The nihilist thirJcs he's A defiant glint came to his eyes. "I'm an insurance hated iCHe was for the war;! marched against it He by it, like my jree cf it, tut it a voted Nixon I worked for McGovern.", controls him as much." .. salesman." He took a nasty, swipe at the apple with , ; just pocket knife and popped die slice in his mouth. "And I'm That seems to be a pretty negative reason." . Iantthsreamiii'errouhd?". A have v. married. Two kids and a house in the suburgs." Sure. Of course. JTdidnt. figure this out'until yesrs .. ."Cure. And let d j :cf.2 fcur.i it It's hat I'm ' "later. Then is was American colonialism, American facisrn, to do now. Ii;k niy cv. n vl.!-::s- , ir.y c.vn lhra;t) '.2. "Good God, what . V . trying happend?" : : American police-statis- m. . ." V.liat fits r.s. Tl;:rs ztz 2 Ict cf rjoci r-i- '- in ths

. . "The .."Kent State, Vietnam, Attica," I continued the list , American Dream."" r. ' '". the curb. we rr. It's some to t'.r.'.'z t v,;t!a. "You mean you bought that line? C'jnon, you used to The bus pulled up to After bozrd:d he was 4iot juat' .rj itr" sx::ty fs awhile- ..'"There are a let cf to jrr.cii-- write stuff like, The American Dream pasted together 'silent for - , , :tarrativ:s A!;:r v with the blood of Vietnamese school children'." . "AH of that was the American Dream, though. Our r.is if cu can f.r.j than iihout tzh fcS.vzzzzl what ic:.!J "That was a long time ago. But, no, I haven't sold out ; was more American than the hawks and the conglomer- ""by ycuVa tzll yea do." to mean." ates. We were back to rugged individualiaa while f I J v co:s fit it?" the that's what V going ' bourgeoisie, you J. subservience." , ir.crt-;-- I do "Well, it's a long way from an underground newspaper they were twisting it into corporate 'It pays '.2 Ar.yvay, crjy it pa to an last I heard ofyou was whsn Othenvi:3 I ial;i to insurance'agency. Jhs 1 ";. ; law TL3 bus ru:rA!!: a 1! 'V You lost meon . . schocl." to :t J I you were busted for possession' . that" j "Seven days and $500. After that t sradied with a "For all its radical rhetoric, the counter-cultur- e staod V'hat's next?" I J. . guru. Then the Moonies. Oh my parents hated that one! for a return to some old, basic values. Very morsl. At least iske did. McGovern on that : "Who knows." He hestl-r-s They hired a deprogrammer before I got out on my own." the political end of it picked up grinned. Mayb5 tsd dr " ; Home America' theme. father a ccr.diu'onin. Dai wants me to tahe ever his 'Then insurance?" -- .., : - with his Come My wis shop uhen hs anti-Americ- "After another stint with the counter-cultur- e scene." hypocrite,. still is. But I was into being an at