Playboy October 1976

COVER STORY
This month's cover, featuring future Playmate Karen Hafter as catcher and September Playmate Whitney Kaine in the batter's box, was designed by Associate Art Director Tom Staebler and photographed by Phillip Dixon. Staebler, who collected baseball cards as a kid in Kansas, got the idea after reading that baseball was again the number-one American pastime. Play ball!

3 PLAYBILL
11 DEAR PLAYBOY
19 PLAYBOY AFTER HOURS
22 MOVIES
A peek at our cinematic crystal ball; Charlie Chaplin revisited; some welcome comic relief from the old master, Mel Brooks.
28 EROTICA
Cable TV's Midnight Blue, sanitized, resurfaces as American Blue.
30 BOOKS
What to expect from the publishers this fall; William Goldman's Magic, the latest from Art Buchwald, Ishmael Reed reviewed.
34 MUSIC
A visit with Don Covay; some terrific McRae, lousy Scarlatti.
42 EVENTS
Dispatch from the battle front in the great Texas—California chili war.
43 TELEVISION
After last year, the fall schedule can only improve. We hope.
44 UNWRITTEN CODE OF THE PRESS CORPS ... PETER J. OGNIBENE
Why the press follows some candidates more avidly than others.
45 REMOVING KISSINGER'S COVER MORTON H. HALPERIN
The author, once a top Kissinger aide, discusses the sensitive balance between liberty and "national security.''
49 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR
55 THE PLAYBOY FORUM
63 PLAYBOY INTERVIEW: ROONE ARLEDGE—candid conversation
The man who brought you instant replay, Monday-night football and Howard Cosell tells the behind-the-scenes story of televised sports.
88 ROOTS: THE MIXING OF THE BLOOD—from the book ... ALEX HALEY
In his search for his past, a distinguished black author (The Autobiography of Malcolm X) unearths the rape of a slave ancestor by her white master. An excerpt from the forthcoming blockbuster destined for the best-seller lists.
93 COLLECTOR'S ITEM—pictorial
What would baseball cards look like if the girls invaded the major leagues? Different. Stelle Mastremski, Francis La Fleur, Edna Knutsen, Ruth Babe and Jean McCarthy photographed by Phillip Dixon
96 THE BRIC-A-BRAC MAN—fiction RUSSELL H. GREENAN
The first of a two-part series from the novel about a swindler who falls for the beautiful resident of a mansion he's planning to burglarize.
100 FAST STARTER—pictorial
In photographic praise of Tippi Hedren's fascinating 19-year-old daughter, Melanie Griffith.
105 BLUE SKIES, NO CANDY—fiction GAEL GREENE
A steamy hunk of the eagerly awaited erotic novel by the author of Sex and the College Girl.
106 DEEP THROAT GOES DOWN IN MEMPHIS—article .. RICHARD RHODES
A chilling report on the great courtroom smut vendetta in which porno movie star Harry Reems and the First Amendment both got the shaft.
110 FARM FRESH—playboy's playmate of the month: You can take Hope Olson out of the country, but you can't take the country out of Hope Olson.
120 PLAYBOY'S PARTY JOKES—humor
122 FALL AND WINTER FASHION FORECAST—attire DAVID PLATT
A look at the clothes coming down the sartorial track in the months ahead.
128 WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING ON CAMPUS—survey
What's new at the U (with lots of shockers and surprises), plus the long-awaited return of PLAYBOY'S campus-action chart, rating schools for scoring.
132 HIGH-FI—modern living NORMAN EISENBERG
The latest word on out-of-this-world sonic wonders.
135 BUNNIES OF '76—pictorial
Here they are again; a bumper harvest of this year's cottontail crop.
144 THE VARGAS GIRL—pictorial ALBERTO VARGAS
145 THE FAMILY JEWELS—ribald classic
146 EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE—modern living
Office furnishings to complement that room at the top.
148 WHO SAYS WE DON'T HAVE A CHOICE?—humor . . TOM PASSAVANT
Meet some unusual Presidential candidates, including a guy who believes a little bran will loosen up the nation.
151 THE MIKOLAS METHOD—sports LAWRENCE LINDERMAN
Our author tries—and succeeds (sort of) with—a system for winning big bucks in college-football betting.
166 PLAYBOY POTPOURRI
224 PLAYBOY ON THE SCENE
Late flashes on what's happening, where it's happening and who's doing it.