I guess the folks at Utne Reader must have appreciated the little magazine that Linette and I used to publish. They just launched a new website called the Dead Magazine Club, where they bemoan the loss of great periodicals, and they chose Crimewave as their very first entry. Apparently they want to know what’s become of us… which is something that I often wonder myself.
A special thanks to my friend Suzanne for bringing this to my attention… and kind of making me feel like a loser schmuck in the process. And, no, I don’t blame her for that. I’m glad that she told me. It’s good to know that our work is missed among those few who still remain dedicated to the alternative press. I just don’t like being reminded of the fact that we’re no longer really producing anything of cultural value. And then there’s the guilt. I hate that there are people out there, counting on us to produce more issues.
With all of that said, however, I should probably mention that Crimewave isn’t actually, technically dead. (I guess you could say, it’s more like Terri Schiavo than, say, the Wicked Witch of the East at this point.) Sure, it’s been a few years since we put an issue out, but Linette and I haven’t pulled the plug yet. Yes, we let the website go. But we’re not calling the magazine quits just yet. We may still have an issue or two left in us.
And, if you want to point fingers, and blame someone for fact that there hasn’t been a new issue in the last few years, blame Desert Moon Distribution, or the fact that people don’t always have the same level of energy that they had in their 20’s.
[Tonight’s post is dedicated to the brilliant, heroic, devastatingly funny Roger Ebert, whom I’ve wanted to interview for years, but have never had the opportunity. (I did get to talk with Russ Meyer about him, though, which was fun.) I’ve wanted to interview Roger since about 1996, when I met an old man at an alternative press gathering in California who showed me a copy of a fanzine from the late 50’s that he claimed was penned by a young Ebert. I believe the name of the zine was “Stymie,” but it could have been “Stump.” I glanced at it briefly, as the fellow told me about how Ebert would send him copies from his parent’s basement in Illinois, when he was a kid. (The zine, as I recall, consisted mostly of sci-fi reviews.) Anyway, I just always wanted to talk with Roger about his time spent in his parents’ basement, reaching out to other like-minded people in the early days of zines. I know it probably pales next to his more recent, adult accomplishments, but I think it’s somehow very important.]
