As we approached press time, we learned that the readers of Eugene Weekly (our local alternative newspaper) had voted Talking Leaves as "Best Local 'Zine" in the 2000 "Best of Eugene" poll. We're honored!
TL is not a typical magazine. We have far less advertising and far more actual editorial content than the average periodical. In fact, even though we publish just once every four months, readers often tell us it takes that entire time to absorb each issue fully. In terms of word count, each issue is closer to a modest-sized book than to an average magazine.
A Few FAQs
We are sometimes asked why we publish three instead of four issues per year. One consideration is eco- nomic: it is far less expensive to print fewer issues, and pack each with more material, than to spread that same amount of content over more frequent, slimmer issues. We still consider moving to quarterly production, but know that the cost of that move would be not just monetary, but in quality-of-life and possibly quality-of-content as well. At our current pace, each issue can coalesce organically, amidst the other activities that occupy our own and our readers' and writers' lives. We have breathing room between each issue, time for contemplation, time to pay attention to quality rather than worrying about constant deadlines.
As a result, each issue so far has been a labor of love--something we've really enjoyed doing--rather than a mere "product." It's with fresh energy that I watch each issue come together, and help it do so. For me, TL is about life...not the other way around. I believe that's why it speaks to so many the way it does--it embodies that life force. It's a forum for real people doing real things, putting ecological ideals into practice--not just philosophizing, analyzing, or being overwhelmed by what is wrong in the world.
Some readers wonder why we do not use glossy paper; and some distributors and newsstands refuse to carry us due to our newsprint insides. But because we are committed to ecological responsibility, we try to minimize the negative environmental impact of producing TL. Our tree-free, non-glossy cover stock, and the recycled newsprint on which the inside pages are printed, are the best, most economically-feasible choices we've found. We also try to make best use of each page: lots of extra white space and non-content-related graphic tricks might meet Madison Avenue's criteria, but they don't meet ours. We hope that in a world that is drowning in words and images of all types, enough people will be drawn to and benefit from the forum we are offering to balance the environmental debt that even our ecologically-conscious choices engender. So far, we believe that is happening. As evidenced by the enthusiastic response to our last subscription appeal, a substantial network of people is willing to help keep this magazine in print. The potential to develop TL and further expand its reach is vast. Meanwhile, every individual involved in any way--whether you're an $18/year subscriber, a supporting member, a sustainer, a benefactor, a contributor of ideas or material--makes a difference.
Our theme this issue is "Relationship." Perhaps I've fallen prey to end-of-the-editing-cycle delirium, but it seems to me that everything in the world (including the content of past and future issues of Talking Leaves, our network of readers, and the actual process of creating the magazine) is about relationship. And after visiting the old-growth trees a couple miles from Lost Valley, or spending a few hours in our abundant vegetable garden, or simply witnessing the beauty in other people, I'm easily convinced that everything in the world is also about love, and that relationship and love are essentially the same. Whatever your expectations of an issue about "Relationship," I hope you'll find that the many ways of looking at and expressing love in these pages convey something that transcends the individual ideas and stories themselves--something not easily put into words. Love, relationship, the Mystery, the Tao, and God/dess are among the names that attempt to describe the ineffable force that enlivens and connects us--but maybe it's just as elegantly expressed by the intertwined carrots caught naked in the accompanying photo [print edition]. Like this magazine and the stories and insights it shares, they're homegrown, unique, fresh from the earth--and good either as food or as compost.
©2000* Talking Leaves
Winter 2001
Volume 10, Number 3
Relationship