In 1979, 12-year old Lou Cove had just moved to Salem, Massachusetts -- his family's eighth home in a decade -- when an eccentric family friend named Howie came to live with them.
"I often describe him as a real deal hippie from Berkeley, California," said Cove, "who looked like Jeff Bridges and talked like Lenny Bruce on acid."
Howie also happened to be a centerfold model for Playgirl magazine, and he asked young Lou to lead a neighborhood campaign to get him voted Playgirl's man of the year.
Almost 40 years later, Cove -- now a fundraising consultant in Northampton -- has written a memoir about that period. It's called "Man of the Year."
Cove told us he visited Howie and his wife Carly a few years ago, shortly before he started writing.
