CONTRIBUTORS

AS THE YOUNGEST HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION IN BOXING HISTORY, MIKE TYSON TERRORIZED OPPONENTS. NOW, WITH HIS NEW DOCUMENTARY, CHAMPS, HE CEMENTS HIS PLACE IN THE SPORT’S HISTORY. AND IN HIS INTRODUCTION TO THIS ISSUE’S “BEASTS FROM THE EAST” FEATURE (PAGE 90), THE LEGENDARY PUGILIST PROVES HE’S NEARLY AS NIMBLE WITH WORDS AS HE WAS IN THE RING. RAW TALK:

“When I think of the word raw, I think about unadulterated, hard-core. When people used to think I was crazy, what I really was was a real hard-core individual.”

NEW YORK MAGAZINE SEX COLUMNIST MAUREEN O’CONNOR HAS COVERED OFFICE HOOKUPS AND SEXTING, CHEATING AND THREESOMES. IN THIS ISSUE’S ESSAY “BOTTOMS UP” (PAGE 38), THE PRINCETON GRAD REFLECTS ON OUR FAVORITE BODY PART AND WHY IT’S HAVING ITS MOMENT IN THE SUN. RAW TALK: “Something is raw when it is unrefined. It’s about purity. To enjoy raw food, raw sex, or raw feelings, you must trust that the source of the rawness won’t kill you—or enjoy the fact that it could.”

GROWING UP IN THE POSTINDUSTRIAL MILL TOWNS OF NEW ENGLAND, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR

ANDRE DUBUS III— WHOSE NOVEL HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG PROVIDED THE RAW MATERIAL FOR A CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED HOLLYWOOD FILM—GOT TO EXPERIENCE “RAW” FIRSTHAND. THAT BACKGROUND MADE DUBUS (WHOSE MOST RECENT BOOK IS THE STORY COLLECTION DIRTY LOVE) THE PERFECT CHOICE TO REFLECT ON THIS ISSUE’S THEME, ON PAGE 28. RAW TALK: “For me the word raw has to do with being emotionally naked, and we’re only emotionally naked when we’re in the presence of some human truth. I hope my piece expressed that.”

WHETHER BREAKING THE INTERNET WITH HER OFFBEAT MUSINGS AS FOUNDER OF THEHAIRPIN.COM (STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GOOGLE “WOMEN LAUGHING ALONE WITH SALAD”) OR HITTING THE TOWN WITH THE BOSTON BRUINS (GOOGLE THAT, TOO), EDITH ZIMMERMAN BRINGS A WRY WIT TO HER SUBJECTS. THIS MONTH SHE SAT DOWN WITH COVER GIRL CANDICE SWANEPOEL (PAGE 74). RAW TALK: “Raw is like an intersection of sexy, sleazy, sick, and healthy. Like a hot guy covered in cuts.”

GILLES BENSIMON, THE ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHER, WHO SHOT SWANEPOEL, MAY KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN THAN ANYONE ON EARTH. OVER THE YEARS THE PARISIAN LENSMAN HAS WORKED WITH EVERYONE FROM GISELE AND BEYONCÉ TO ELLE MACPHERSON AND KELLY KILLOREN BENSIMON—THE LATTER TWO OF WHOM ARE AMONG HIS EXES. NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT’S BEEN A GOOD LIFE.

RAW TALK: “Today is all about protection: sunblock, sunglasses. But sometimes you want to keep things natural, honest. That’s what I tried to do with Candice, and that’s what raw means to me.”