About 35,000 complaints, in fact -- more than the U.S. Post Office had ever received up to that time. Ralph Ginzburg was charged with sending obscene material through the mails, and _Eros_ was forced to suspend publication while the debate went on. Most Washington lawyers, after examining the magazine, concluded that it was not obscene. But the case became a political issue, and in 1972, 10 years after the so-called crime had taken place, Ginzburg was ordered to serve an eight-month term at the federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. His imprisonment led to a nationwide outcry by intellectuals and public officials. Not long after the demise of _Eros_, Ginzburg started another magazine called _Fact_. It, too, ended over a lawsuit. This time the plaintiff was U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater. He sued the magazine for $2 million on the charge of libel, and was awarded $65,000 in damages. "It was a compromise, as jury decisions frequently are," remarks Ginzburg. "Unfortunately I didn't have very much money back then, and it wiped us out." Describing the case, he said: "In 1964, when Goldwater was running for president, he advocated the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam. I thought the guy was out of his mind and I wondered if anyone else had the same suspicion. ... We polled all the members of the American Medical Association who were listed as psychiatrists and asked them if they thought Goldwater was fit to be president. We printed their replies and their long-distance diagnoses ... " Both the _Eros_ case and the Goldwater case made the American public examine some far-reaching questions: What is obscene? What is libelous? Ginzburg helped to establish new definitions for these terms, and in so doing, widened the power of the press. _Avant-Garde_, his third publication, existed from 1967 to 1970. "It was born during the Vietnam uprising in this country," he explains. "It was a magazine of art and politics, and had no ad revenue." In the same year that _Avant-Garde_ folded, he began a newsletter called _Moneysworth_. Soon it expanded into a full-sized newspaper. "It was launched," says Ginzburg, "because we felt that the only existing periodical in the area of consumer interest -- _Consumer Reports_ -- wasn't broad enough. Spending money is more than buying appliances." While _Moneysworth_ does carry many valuable tips on personal finance, it also has a considerable amount of sensationalism that would seem at home in the _National Enquirer_. Even so, Ginzburg's managerial skills, his nonstop working habits, and his literary expertise -- he has written several books -- have made _Moneysworth_ a winner. Using the same staff of 40, along with many free-lance writers, he now publishes two other monthly newspapers as well, _American Business_ and Extra! He has been a Westsider for 15 years, and his publishing company, Avant-Garde Media, is located on West 57th Street.