I don’t know if this issue of the magazine was actually published in 1975, or if it sold for just one dollar. I do know that I saw this cover when I was in my late teens, and it rocked my world. I can’t emphasize how profoundly it affected me, a decade and a half later I remember it vividly…
My eager eyes went to the girl first, and I felt a strong empathy with her. I loved how she dressed with argyle socks. I’d received poor grades on occasion; she was me! And I was enchanted by her bared bum.
My eyes and imagination traveled to him, dignified, tweedy, smelling of pipe smoke and a masculine cologne. He’s using a slide-rule on her; I’d never even seen one in-person, and she was experiencing it intimately.
I knew there were places in the country that still practiced corporal punishment in schools. Part of me was filled with dread and awe, and part of me was thrilled.
It wasn’t my magazine, though I coveted it. I tried to memorize every detail, all the while trying to seem nonchalant. I excused myself from the presence of my friends. This image was fodder for my dreams ever since.