hard news

Staff of Life magazine @1988

The staff of the only Life there is left—pictures on the web—now numbers two that I know of. And last week the news was that the once-great magazine company of Time Inc. is likely to be sold to the publishers of Good Housekeeping, bless their hearts.
      All the "girl" magazines, that is, or profitable ones—In Style, Real Simple & etc and the cash cow, People. The boy magazines, Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune are apparently so elderly and unmarriageable that no one will have them. They will be kept to dwindle away or die the Life digital death. And they are selling the Time-Life building.
       It feels personal. All the talented, bright people who were nurtured by that company, like a small town before the Warner and then AOL "mergers"—just gone. I myself spent some 17 years at Life and worked at People three separate times, including as copy clerk on the very first issue, and just before, thank fortune (no, not Fortune), taking the last great buyout in 2001. Now it feels like my toil was valueless. Magazine history has been downsized.