Not every magazine hoax has been perpetrated on or around April 1. Forbes FYI, a quarterly lifestyle supplement to Forbes magazine, chose November 1991 to inform readers that the cash-strapped Soviet Union planned to auction off the preserved remains of Vladimir Lenin. Minimum bid: $15 million.
The Soviet Interior Ministry denounced the report as "an impudent lie."
Apparently the hoax fooled several major news organizations, including ABC News, PBS, and USA Today. ABC anchor Peter Jennings seems not to have been amused, telling viewers after Forbes FYI's editor, Christopher Buckley, revealed the hoax, "I'll be encouraged in the future if Forbes FYI knows the difference between April Fool’s Day and November 3."
Magazine hoaxes seem to be something of a Buckley family tradition, incidentally. We'll look at one by Christopher Buckley's father, William F., 20 years earlier, in a future installment.
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