George. December 1998. Power Issue
New York: Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, 1998. Quarto, publisher's photo-illustrated wraps.
"A magazine about politics for people who think they don’t like politics." December 1998 issue of JFK, Jr.’s "politics-as-lifestyle" magazine, with Hollywood heavyweight Sean Penn on the cover. Established in 1995 with businessman Michael Berman after Kennedy left his career as a lawyer behind, George was the first mass market magazine to pair politics with glamor and celebrity. (The inaugural issue, featuring a now-iconic cover image of Cindy Crawford as George Washington shot by Herb Ritts, was a blockbuster debut.) While the "post-partisan" publication was an immediate hit, by late 1998 George began to flounder due to editorial infighting, a drop in readership, and general financial trouble – the New York Post began a "virtual George death watch." When publisher Hachette Filipacchi informed Kennedy they would be pulling the plug on the magazine, he scrambled to find new investors; it was during this interim period that he died in a plane crash, on July 16, 1999. The magazine remained in print for one year after the tragedy. This issue – the "Power Issue" – features an interview with Sean Penn by Nick Tosches, Katie Roiphe on the Starr Report, Peter Maas on Monica Lewinsky, a photo editorial by Ellen von Unwerth reimagining the Lewinsky an Oval Office sex scandal with a woman president at its center, and more. Profusely illustrated in color and black-and-white. Light creasing and edgewear. Near fine. Item #7104
$50.00