For Honey-Blonde Melodye Prentiss, the path to becoming Playmate of the Month was a short elevator ride to Playboy's 11th-floor Photo Studio from our 9th-floor Editorial Library, where she was working part time as a researcher when an alert colleague pegged her as perfect Playmate material. Finding enough time to pose, however, presented something of a problem: Besides gracing our offices part of the week, she was taking a full schedule of courses at the University of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute. "I enjoy being under pressure," Melodye says of her energetic regimen. "If every waking minute isn't used efficiently, I consider myself lazy. Sometimes, of course, it would be pleasant to pretend there's nothing that has to be done, but I have a compulsion to accomplish as much as possible." Her will to achieve obviously has its way. Before entering the Art Institute, Melodye studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, winning first prizes in both its annual drawing and its annual painting contests and top honors in a school-wide scholarship competition. When our Playmate does play, she takes to the beach, the tennis courts or the bridle paths ("I've been riding since I was five, and now I'd like to take jumping lessons"). This summer, she's earning living expenses and pocket money (her tuition is covered by scholarships from the Illinois State Scholarship Commission and the Ford Foundation) by working full time in our Copy Department, as a sharp-eyed checker of factual information for future issues of Playboy. Of her own future, Miss July says, "My primary goals are to excel as a painter and to grow intellectually, to learn how to communicate more effectively with people. I don't think it's always necessary to talk to have an exchange of thoughts and ideas; if you share a bond with someone, you sense things without speaking. Words can sometimes detract from communication." Accordingly, we'll say no more, so you may silently commune with Melodye.
