It really shouldn’t be as hard as it is. It’s just a magazine, after all. A bunch of words and some pictures and the magic of a printing press and with that, voila, a magazine. I printed the first Summer Homes For City People magazine 13 years ago to make my attempt at showcasing this market through my own filter. The magazine has had some good years and some lesser years, and one year we put one year on the cover and another year on the binding. Errors abound, no matter how many times I proof the PDF. I worry that people won’t like what I have to say, I worry that advertisers won’t like their ads, and I worry that the cover might be cut just a touch too small. I worry.
This year was more of the same, more worry and more stress. I made a few last minute changes to the new issue and those changes always give me heartburn. Overall, I think the 2022 issue is the best one yet, and I do hope you agree. And if not agree, then at least I hope you don’t violently disagree. There are a few stories in there, some wonderful lake photos, and at least one giant oversized photo of me. My WSJ portrait was six years old and it felt like it was time to refresh to reflect my current state of morbid obesity.
It’s Memorial Day Weekend at the lake, and I intend to spend at least some of the weekend doing what I do often: appreciating those who have sacrificed so much so that I could worry about so little. Is it really such an inconvenience that I worry about the shading of a sunset on page 62? What a small and insignificant life I lead that this is what I have to worry about. I am grateful to those who gave up their own dreams so that I can pursue my own.
This weekend, I hope you have a terrific time at the lake. I hope you grill and I hope you boat and I hope your Iris’s are blooming. I hope the mayflies don’t bother you too much and I hope your shore station battery isn’t dead. I hope the things we spent all winter longing for live up to your expectations. And if you would, grab a few issues of Summer Homes For City People and tell your lake-house-less-friends that they should really make a change.
David – keep writing! The world needs your voice of humor, edge, and light. I picked up your magazine last summer while visiting from North Carolina and saved it as I loved reading your words and the way your magazine was put together with such soul and goodness. Keep going – it matters and it is well done.
You are very kind. Thank you