By James Donahue

The recent death of Mak Erot, a reclusive old woman who lived in Caringin, a village at the western coast of Java, Indonesia,  may mean that the world has lost the inventor of the real and only secret for expanding the male sex organ.

Or maybe not.

Natives in the area say Erot gained a reputation because her clinics, which continue to operate, offer penis extension treatment through the use of traditional herbs and Islamic prayer. Believed to have been over 100 years old at the time of her death, Erot’s craggy and birthmarked face that appeared in advertisements became a famous trademark for this odd business.

The success of her treatment (at least financially), which is rarely mentioned in social circles, prompted legions of imitators, and may have caused the volumes of e-mail spam that flood our computers daily, offering super-sized “instruments” sure to please the ladies.

In a strange way, the old woman in Java became a pop-culture icon in her own lifetime. Her face appeared in everything from penis enlargement advertisements to teenage romantic comedy films.

Of course the business she founded lives on through her children and grandchildren. Her secrets, if they are truly secrets, are closely guarded by the family members who say they are maintaining the purity of the treatment.

So dream on men, there may still be a real herbal treatment out there that will give you a monster organ that will impress all who gaze upon it . . . if that is your goal in life. Then again, there is a real possibility that Erot’s genius was to have been the first to think up this world-wide scam and make money with it.