Say goodbye to Glamour

I read earlier today that Glamour magazine was going to be suspending producing print publications. Another magazine goes by the wayside.

Now, as anyone who knows me will attest to, I am definitely NOT a Glamour magazine reader. My sense of style tends more toward plain white button-collar dress shirts, two pairs of Levi’s and several assorted t-shirts with various logos on them. So I will definitely NOT miss the monthly issue of Glamour.

But that’s not the point. The point is that, if you love words as much as I do, losing still another familiar print publication is just one more blow to the writing and publishing industry. There have been way too many publications that have ceased to exist on our newstands. So many, in fact, that I often wonder why we still have newsstands!!

So, if you love words - both the writing of and the reading of - I have one simple request. Go buy a magazine. A real honest-to-goodness, glossy magazine. And read it. From cover to cover. And, if you are so inclined, subscribe to a magazine. And while  you’re at it, subscribe to a newspaper too. The real ink-on-my-hands kind. The kind that is a pain in the ass to read on the subway.

And maybe, if that works for you , buy a book. From a bookstore. And here you are probably expecting me to say from a local bookstore, but to be honest it’s to the point that I don’t care if it’s the Barnes and Noble at the mall, just go buy a book. (I know Amazon is so convenient, but bookstores are so nice). And if money is tight, go the library instead. And check out a book or two.

Because it is those of us who love words who have to do all we can to try to save the printed word. In an age when a Tweet (is that right?) is considered “official White House correspondence”, I feel we need to make a stand for ink on paper.  The magazine you save just may be your own.

Now where’s my GQ? Didn’t they just have an article on denim?