In the classic film The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman's character Benjamin Braddock is counseled on where he should turn to make his fortune: "Plastics."

And while Ben does not heed the advice, Gerson Strassberg of Roslyn Harbor (where he is the mayor) has taken it to heart...almost literally.

Mr. Strassberg is featured in the September issue of Esquire magazine "as the last pocket-protector manufacturer in America."

In an article titled "The Plastic Badge of Courage," Mr. Strassberg- who is head of Angler's Roslyn Group, a plastics company in Flushing - gives a brief history of pocket-protectors and laments their demise at the hands of high technology.

"I worry," Mr. Strassberg tells Esquire's Phil Patton, "because what built this country was Yankee ingenuity. Now the computer industry has just about taken things over."

The September issue of Esquire hits newsstands mid-August.