Miller In Dude Magazine

It makes sense that Henry Miller’s name appeared often in American ‘girlie magazines’ of the 1950s and ‘60s. In between nude pictorials and masculine essays would sometimes appear an excerpt from a Miller book, an analysis of his work, or simply references to his Tropic Of Cancer, which was still banned in the U.S.

Quite a while ago, I wrote about Miller in girlie magazines, but the ultimate resource has always been Roger Jackson’s Henry Miller And The Nudies: A Bibliography For Readers And Collectors (1996). In March 2007, Jackson updated the index (unpublished) for this book, making extensive reference to Miller essays, articles and references found in the pages of girlie magazine from Ace to Wildcat Spectacular. One such magazine was called The Dude. While at a vintage paper sale a couple of years ago, I happened to find a stack of Dude magazines, two of which had Miller’s name listed on the cover. I bought them, and feature them in this posting.

The Dude magazine began publication in 1956 by Mystery Publishing Co. in New York City. This “magazine devoted to pleasure” was published by Maurice Murray; James H. Holmes was Editor-in-Chief.

JANUARY 1957
The third issue of Dude (Vol. 1, No. 3) contained an excerpt from The Colossus Of Maroussi, under the heading “These Women I Remember.” The preface by the editors begins: “Few men of our time have achieved as penetrating an insight into sensuality as Henry Miller, best known for the notoriously Rabelaisian chronicles of his life, ‘Tropic Of Cancer’ and ‘Tropic Of Capricorn.’ These books are only available in America ‘under the counter’—although recognized in Europe as ranking among the true masterpieces of modern literature.”

The featured excerpt from Maroussi opens with “The Greek woman, even when she is cultured, is first and foremost a woman, [sic] She sheds a distinct fragrance: she warms and thrills you…..” This passage exists on pages 108-112 of the New Directions Maroussi (NDP75), and is a reverent description of Greek women, with a few examples of the types of girls and women he encountered in Greece in 1939.

NOVEMBER 1960
“Erotica” by W. Roderick Morey (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

SEPTEMBER 1961
“Dirty Dog Inn” by Spence Norris (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

MAY 1962
“In Your Hat” by Nat Lehrman (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

SEPTEMBER 1962
“The Last Forbidden Classic: My Life & Loves,” by William Gresham
(reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

“To Catch A Word” by Art Kaplan (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

JANUARY 1963
“The Price of Free Love” by James Collier (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

Dude cover, November 1963

NOVEMBER 1963
“Are You Another Henry Miller?” by Harvey McCall. This is one of the issues I’d picked up at the paper show. I was hoping for an insightful essay, but instead found a two-page fill-in-the-blank gimmick (I remember doing stuff like this in grade-school). "He hopes she would accept his ____________ and _____________. With a final glance at the mirror, he straightened his ____________, and then went whistling out the door."

What do you need to become another Henry Miller?: “A naughty vocabulary, a wild imagination and a large talent.”

MAY 1964
“In Utter Nakedness” by Juliette Powell (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

JULY 1964
“The Man Who Invented Fanny Hill” by Clement Haney
(reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

SEPTEMBER 1965
“The Rape of Junius Figleaf” by H.S. Kahn
(reference to Miller—details unknown to me).

MAY 1966
“The Man Who Made Candy” by James S. Brooks (reference to Miller—details unknown to me).