HEF: A NATION MOURNS
LAST night at 11pm the nation collectively mourned the passing of one of the world’s greatest advocates for social change.
Hugh Hefner died last month, aged just 91, and the generation that led the sexual revolution paid a fitting tribute to the founder of the Playboy empire.
At gatherings across the UK and, indeed, the world, people stood silent for two minutes to remember the deeds of the legendary American publisher, womaniser and philanthropist.
But the gatherings soon became the sort of parties consummate party animal Hef would have enjoyed.
The late, great Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1953, almost single- handedly lighting the fuse that would ignite the sex bomb of the 1960s and beyond.
After his death, Playboy redirected every page of its website to a photo of Mr Hefner, with a quotation attributed to him: “Life is too short to be living someone else’s dream.”
Hefner had his critics – the feminists, the envious – but this was a man who stood for much that is good in our world.
He believed in equality. Hefner was a staunch supporter of same- sex marriage, and said that a fight for gay marriage was “a fight for all our rights. Without it, we will turn back the sexual revolution and return to an earlier, puritanical time.”
It’s unlikely we’ll ever see Hefner’s like again. He will be missed.