Life at Southern Living : a sort of memoir / John Logue & Gary McCalla.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Logue, John, 1933-

Contributor:

McCalla, Gary.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Southern living--History.

Southern living.

Logue, John, 1933-.

Logue, John.

McCalla, Gary.

Journalists--Southern States--Biography.

Journalists.

Periodicals--Publishing--Southern States--History--20th century.

Periodicals.

Corporate culture--Southern States--History--20th century.

Corporate culture.

Manners and customs.

History.

Periodicals--Publishing.

Southern States--Social life and customs--20th century.

Southern States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 323 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 2000.

Summary:

It is nearly impossible to think of the South without its beloved magazine Southern Living. Founded in 1966 as a magazine for the modern South, it is today a Southern institution. Serving over three million subscribers and commanding the affection of more than thirteen million readers every month, the Birmingham-based magazine celebrates the good life -- travel, gardening, homes, and food -- and enjoys perhaps the most loyal audience in all of publishing. How could so strong a bond have been forged in this jet-set world of easy cynicism? As former editors John Logue and Gary McCalla describe in this "sort of memoir," it wasn't always easy, but despite early misdirection and near-oblivion, it was almost always fun.

McCalla was hired as Southern Living's original Mid-South editor and became Editor in 1969 -- a position he held until his retirement in 1991. Logue jumped on the near-sinking ship in its second year of publication and hung around for the next quarter century as McCalla's right-hand man, and then as editor-in-chief of the magazine's book division, Oxmoor House. During their years at Southern Living, Logue and McCalla defined the present direction of the magazine by embracing the urban and suburban South. They saw its circulation rise from a reluctant two hundred thousand -- many conscripted kicking and screaming as their subscriptions were automatically transferred from Progressive Farmer, Southern Living's parent magazine -- to more than three million, and annual gross income increase from $9 million in 1966 to $1 billion in 2000.

Keen senses of humor firmly in place, Logue and McCalla take their work, but not themselves, seriously. They introduce the wonderfully eccentric people who edited, photographed, designed, and sold advertising for this most straightforward of magazines and offer a charming behind-the-scenes glimpse into the frantic, never boring daily routine at Southern Living, where McCalla was famous in photographic picks for his dreaded pronouncement: "What else you got?" Or the equally feared "What's Southern about it?" They also describe what it was like to work with the many prominent writers -- all of whom became friends -- who have put pen to paper for the magazine and its book division over the years, including James Dickey, Walter Cronkite, and Mark Childress.

Although their story is an affectionate one, Logue and McCalla pull no punches. They remember conflict and pain scattered among the happier times and recollect many incidents their dear friends at Southern Living today probably wish they had forgotten. At times their narrative is serious, at times it's as zany as Barbarians at the Gate -- with Logue and McCalla in the role of the barbarians.

Fascinating business history, amusing exploration of office politics, and tender tribute, Life at "Southern Living" is, like the magazine it honors, a gift to Southerners everywhere.

Contents:

1 A Visit to 19th Street 7

2 Where It Came From and How 23

3 A Stop in Atlanta 43

4 Vol. 1, No. 1 52

5 Cracking the Whip 61

6 Tribulations 80

7 "It'll Survive" 116

8 A White Paper 125

9 Time for a Change 147

10 Recipes for Success 161

11 Tasty Images 178

12 Call for Philip Morris 186

13 Circulating Around 222

14 "Since You Looked at Jesus, You Ain't Looked Twice at Me" 237.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

080712561X

OCLC:

43811324