PCH Days of Yore

I remember the good old Publisher Clearing House days when my coffee table overflowed with magazines, mostly unread, while I tried desperately to increase my chances to win $1,000,000. I finally realized that the knock at my door, followed by my overwhelmed surprise as a bouquet of roses and a giant check were thrust into my arms, was never really going to happen. Probably had I invested all those dollars I spent on magazine subscriptions I would have my million dollars in a savings account today.

Today I read more books than magazines, except for one – Vanity Fair. Last summer while I was traveling I needed something to read while cooling my heels waiting for my delayed flight. I bought the copy of VF that you see here because Johnny Depp was on the cover. It is a great article on this rather enigmatic celebrity complete with lots of great photos of the man himself and his wonderful island hideaway. I ended up reading the magazine cover to cover, and that included the ads as well.

I was hooked and got online and ordered a subscription to Vanity Fair. It has turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected, reading this monthly magazine filled with its lengthy articles and abundant ads. I made a promise to myself that I would not even take one little peek at a new issue until the current issue had been read cover to cover by me. Sometimes the articles are about people I have heard a little about like Bernie Madoff's wife Ruth, or Jacqueline Kennedy who I feel I know, or sometimes it's an article about someone I have never heard of. But each article was interesting and left me feeling like I knew a little more than before I read it.

If someone were to ask me why I read Vanity Fair, I would say for the same reason men read Playboy magazine – the great articles!