“ What sort of woman
works for Playboy ?” a
headline pouts in the latest
issue of that venerable in
stitution of pre- and post
pubescent male America.
There are no firm, er concrete, answers to the
question, but on page 139 meet Oregon's contribution
to the cause — 26-year-old Joanie Schwabe, University
alumna, beaver-state believer and publicist for Playboy
mazagine
Schwabe, who works at the company's
headquarters in Chicago, was sent west on an Oregon
media blitz, an assignment she admits being nervous
about The occasion was PLayboy employees peeling
to various stages of undress in a 14-page layout in the
December issue
Schwabe's feature photo is no more revealing
than a Montgomery Ward lingerie advertisement,
although it is a good deal more alluring
"It’s my Oregon upbringing I guess,” says
Schwabe, who admits she was concerned about the
reaction of her mother, Shirley Schwabe, a Portland
realtor “I think she braced herself before she opened
it But I think she trusted my modesty.”
Schwabe graduated from the University in 1978
with a degree in journalism She was an advertising
salesman for the Emerald and an Alpha Phi sorority
sister when her future took a turn for the glamorous
"Universal Studios was placing an ad in the
Emerald for extras for the movie Animal House," she
remembers "As a joke, some other girls and I decided
to try out for the job They were looking for 300 people
so it wasn't hard to get on ”
7 'wmmwammmmmmmmsmmmmmmmr.y**
Schwab# says her ability to work with paopla and har
dagraa in journalism — not har baauty — got har a job at
Playboy.
Woman’s work
Playboy publicist espouses job
Here to allure Oregonians to the joy of Playboy reading, Joanie Schwabe, University alumna, Playboy publicist and
recent model, poses in front of the Pioneer Father.
She was awarded a walk-on part and met the
director, John Landis, who suggested she consider
becoming a publicist One thing led to another, and
she began a career with Playboy more than four years
ago
“It was sort of a lucky
stroke of fate to meet John
through that,9 9 Schwabe says.
Her position includes planning publicity events
and press tours, writing news releases and other
aspects of media relations It is not, she says, endless
travel and hobnobbing with the famous and
near-famous
"About 98 percent of my time is spent in a
windowless office on the telephone,” she says
But the other 2 percent makes up for it — she has
worked with celebrities like Steve Martin, at the height
of his popularity, and writers Norman Mailer and David
Halberstam to promote interviews and articles
By most accounts, she’s taken the Oregon media
by storm Jonathan Nicholas, an Oregonian columnist,
unraveled his plushest prose in a red-carpet salute
On "AM Northwest," viewers called in to ask
Schwabe questions on the air "Half the calls were
from women that wanted to know how to get into the
magazine — Am I too tall, am I too short,' things like
that," she says, "I expected a backlash, feminist flak,
but they were mostly supportive "
The attention given Schwabe by Oregon's
communication network illustrates a quieter attribute
of Playboy magazine that has had a heavy hand in its
success — the ability to attract mostly favorable media
attention
"I think Playboy is in the news more than any
other magazine in the country," Schwabe says "Every
time you pick the newspaper up there's something in
there about it."
Her message to Oregon has been that Playboy Is a
nice place to work and a good magazine to read
"Playboy aspires to quality,” she says "I think It is
pretty well accepted across the country as a legitimate
literary magazine "
Schwabe says her journalism
degree and the fact that she
is a 9'people-oriented person 9 9
qualified her for the job
at Playboy.
"First of all. I don't think I'm that pretty," says
Schwabe. "And even if I was. I'd )ust be one of the
crowd — there are so many beautiful women that work
for Playboy The question is, what else do you have to
offer the company?"
Schwabe feels her position allows her to expand
her expertise and become more valuable to her
employers "I work with people that are among the
best at what they do," Schwabe says. "Every year I get
better at what I do ”
With the lay-out in the
December issue, Schwabe
added another dimension
to her career.
"Now I know what it feels like to be photographed
by Playboy," she says "The excitement of being in a
national magazine, of being made the most beautiful
you can be Playboy is a genuinely classy magazine I
think women out there want to be a part of it for that
reason "
Story by Sean Meyers
Photos by Mark Pynes
i