What do Mass Murderer Charles Manson and Paul Petzoldt Have in Common?

 While waiting for my next installment of "Lessons Learned Leading Wilderness Adventures" I thought you might enjoy this article from a 1969 copy of Life Magazine. For those of you too young to remember Life, it was the iconic magazine of its time and to be on the cover represented the pinnacle of success. Paul Petzoldt was to be on the cover with a multi-page spread promoting the National Outdoor Leadership School and the TV show "The Alcoa Hour" which was presenting a movie called "Thirty Days to Survival" based on the school. Paul told me the story of how he missed being on the cover because the week of  the article murderer Charles Manson was captured and he bumped Paul off the cover. None the less the article and the TV show had a tremendous impact on NOLS and in the summer of 1970 NOLS enrollment doubled causing a few growing pains although you couldn't have proved it by me. Although I had heard Paul speak in the spring of 1969 in Laramie, WY and I was already convinced that I wanted to attend NOLS, I watched the show and that summer I trucked out to Lander to experience one of the turning points of my life. Paul become my mentor and friend. I am a very fortunate person to have had his help and guidance during my early years.

I felt it wouldn't be complete if I didn't include both the cover as well as the back cover. The front cover speaks for itself but the back cover represents the time period. The Marlboro man was seen in magazines, billboards, and TV ads for Marlboro cigarettes. For those that don't know, two of the man who posed as the Marlboro man died of lung cancer. One renounced his participation and discouraged smoking from his deathbed and the other man's family sued Philip Morris (the maker of Marlboro's) for wrongful death. Light 'em up folks!

To see the other two articles in this series click on the links below:
Article 2 - Field & Stream - 1972

Article 3 - Colliers - 1949