Charles Laufer, Founder of Tiger Beat, Dies at 87

Charles Laufer, the founder of Tiger Beat, died April 5 in California at the age of 87.

The New York Times writes that Laufer began as a high school teacher in 1955, and no doubt felt his young female students needed more distractions than just the cutest boy in school, so began a magazine that featured the cutest boys in school on a global level.

Tiger Beat, which Laufer started in 1965, is well-known for its glossy pictures, tucked-in posters, and somewhat innocent depiction of girls’ celebrity crushes, e.g., its website now has a post “Allstar Weekend’s Cameron Teaches YOU How to Make a PB&J Sandwich!”

FishbowlNY has fond memories of Tiger Beat from its own adolescence, and the monthly magazine’s very special coverage of what, as Laufer himself described to The Seattle Times as, “guys in their 20s singing La La songs to 13-year-old girls.”

With the ever-increasing fame of Justin Bieber, it’s clear that Laufer‘s legacy — faith in the consuming power of 13-year-old girls — lives on.

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