Dennis Publishing's Last Hurrah

The company that publishes Maxim is now Alpha Media, but Dennis Publishing lived again for a few hours on Tuesday night, when founder Felix Dennis -- in town for the first time in two years -- held a farewell party that doubled as an alumni reunion for several generations of Maxim editors.

The setting was the Terrace Club on Rockefeller Center, selected, according to the invitation, "because those of us with unsociable habits will be able to smoke while we drink. The gods of Maxim would have it no other way, surely." Dennis himself took advantage of that privilege; at one point, he was witnessed working two cigarettes at once.

On hand was brand-new editor in chief James Kaminsky, as well as two of his predecessors, Mark Golin and Keith Blanchard. (Kaminsky's immediate predecessor, Jimmy Jellinek, was a no-show, although James Heidenry, his recently-terminated second-in-command, did turn up. As chance would have it, he shared an elevator with Alpha CEO Kent Brownridge.)

Also notable by his absence was Dave Itzkoff, whose Lads: A Memoir portrayed the company in a decidedly unflattering light. "If Itzkoff had shown up, we would have tossed him off the roof," said one attendee.

And it wouldn't be a Maxim party if there weren't large-breasted women in tight tank tops. There were three of them, hired by Dennis, and they also wore black leather pants.