There's something about seeing your name in print....UPDATE

Author's note: I have updated this article on April 22, 2017. My favorite car magazine: Hemmings SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR ceased publishing with issue #141. I sat down and went through all the issues which I saved in special cases, and found three missing! Being the type of collector called "completist" that just would not do. Thankfully, they have back issues of all 141. So, I ordered the lost ones. Once they arrived, I sat down again and decided to quickly look through all the "Reader's Replies" as they called them. In the back of my mind I just KNEW there was one in there with a letter of mine. I found it! Issue #72, August, 2011. It is placed in chronological order below. I briefly thought of redoing the entire post by scanning each cover and letter's pages, then reality hit: WAY too much work!

Gentle reader,

I think most people like the idea of being famous, at least a little bit famous. What I do and countless millions of others do by blogging is essentially self publishing their work. That's one of the reasons E-books have taken off. No printing costs.

I subscribe to a lot of magazines. Real, paper magazines. So many in fact, that the industry must think that I am in some kind of profession that requires keeping up via print media. I say that because I get crazy discount subscription prices and they often keep renewing them for free.

Obviously I have no problem talking (too much, my best buddy tells me) and writing, in this case to people I will likely never see or get to know. That's why I love it when you leave comments. We can have a little more personal relationship.

Plus, like elbows, which everyone has, I have opinions. Apparently others do like what I write. I know this, because when I write to editors of some of the magazines that I read, they publish my letters. I have kept those issue and thought, why not share with you?

The first time a magazine, called Excellence, published a letter of mine, I was shocked and pleased.  Excellence is a magazine for Porsche enthusiasts and owners. At the time, I had my first, and hopefully not my only, Porsche. It was a 1987 924S. The 924S was a then latest effort on Porsche's part to sell an entry level model. Slated to retail for $19,995 when they came out in Fall of 1986. A bargain in Porsche terms. As was mine, as you will see.....

The 924S is a Porsche 924 body with 944 mechanical components. I'm talking engine, suspension, brakes, wheels, etc. No more Audi-sourced engine, rear drum brakes, four-bolt wheels and VW-sourced other parts. Being lighter and more aerodynamic, it is faster and quicker (there is a difference) than the same model year 944 models are.

Excellence had an article about a recent PCA (Porsche Club of America) get together and one show winner's car was featured. They referred to it as a 944. It was, in fact a 924S. So I wrote to them and they published my entire letter and apologized to the owner of the 924S featured.

For some reason, I did not keep that issue and since I have no idea which one it was.....never mind.

NOTE: All photographs and words are the copyright of the photographers and authors and are used for illustrative purposes only. I do not benefit from their work.

(You know how you tend not to see something because it is always there? I have a wonderful EPSON photo scanner. It is sitting mere inches from me right now. And yet, it never crossed my mind to SCAN these covers and letters....unit today. Those scans will appear at the bottom of this post.)

In the case of the pictures of the letters pages, you'll have to scroll or look around to find the ones by me.

So, starting with the first issue I did keep, dated August 25th, 2008, this issue of AutoWeek magazine.

To make it easier to see the actual letters, I am making those pages full sized. My letter is on the lower right. Of course, Volkswagen did not choose to make this modern take on the Volkswagen-Porsche 914. Too bad.

Next, again in AutoWeek this one dated October 13, 2008. Funny that they included the much maligned Dodge Caliber in the fun rides list.

This time my letter is first. True too. NASCAR sucks.

A superb magazine as all Hemming's titles are, SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR is one I have subscribed to since issue #1. It features fun cars from many eras, unlike most mainline car magazines. Well written and illustrated.

My letter starts in the left column and ends in the right one. A little history you didn't know about.

Next, a pair of Euro-centric car magazines. Owning the fabulous Audi TT started my subscription to eurotuner and european car.

Interestingly, both issues are from the same month, January, 2009, although they are competing titles, they both had "me" in them. I highlighted the text on the page below at the time I noticed it. More history you may not know. Funny, since I now own a Volvo turbo wagon. Not the V70R, but it's little brother.

Here's the other one.

This one had nothing to do with cars. european car and a sister publication had their last page titled: Icon. That month's was GIJoe. This January, 2009 icon was the Airstream trailer.

Back to AUTOWEEK and their new look, dated December 14, 2009.

I did in fact keep that special Audi issue. My letter is the "feature" one this time.

MISSING issue and letter is here:

Back to SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR from August, 2001 which features a very pretty Fiat X1/9 mid-engined sports car on the cover.

My letter is quite long and they did not edit it at all. More than a whole column, it starts below the picture:

 

Only three months later SPORTS & EXOTIC CAR from November, 2001 published me again. That Volvo now has more than 3,000,000 miles and is still going strong. Back when Volvos were not boxy.

My letter is first in line. Again.

Hemmings once again printed a letter in the August, 2014 issue.

 This one is in the left column. I still want a Triumph GT6.

Now to the most recent car magazine printing and the first in Automobile. August, 2016. 

My letter is headlined "THANKS, BUT NO". 

I have a virtual version of the last air-cooled Porsche in my virtual garage in Forza 4. Of the models of which they featured as "affordable", I saw one for sale in a parking lot. White with blue leather interior. Manual transmission, great shape and I couldn't believe how cheap. The point is moot, (or as my ex-wife often said, "The point is mute." Perhaps she was subtly telling me to shut up?) I could not afford it.

I learned the lesson that so many buyers of "previously enjoyed" (my term) German cars: Got that ten-year-old (insert German car name here) for only ten grand? Well, when it needs work it is still a forty grand car. My 2000 Audi TT taught me that. Most repairs, no matter how simple still are quoted in four figures. Fun and awesome though they are, unless you can afford to pay for repairs and maintenance on that fun and/or exotic car, walk away. Just walk away.

I am a photographer and was an avid camera collector. As if you didn't already know that! POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY had an article titled "Elegant Machines". I felt the need to write to the editor:

On Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 10:07 PM, Scott Robb wrote:

Dear MS Leuchter,

    I have been a reader of your magazine for decades. It was frustrating however, because raising a family of four kids took precedent, so I couldn't afford a "real" (35mm SLR) camera, until April, 1995. Soon after, I decided to collect cameras as well. I had a mentor in the form of the late Colonel, Bill Arps, US Army, retired, whose massive collection took up his entire large basement. I helped him and later his widow to sell his collection, one camera or lens at a time. I introduced him to the Internet, and he would follow my sales. He once told me, "You described it so well I wanted to buy it myself. And it was my camera!" I still miss Colonel Bill.

    So, I was delighted to see Elegant Machines by Theano Nikitas in the September issue. I still have articles that I cut out and kept from previous decades such as SLR notebook by Herbert Keppler and the camera collector, later called ASK THE COLLECTOR by aptly named Jason Schneider. Both writers were instrumental in choosing my collection which is considerably smaller than it once was and can be seen in my blog: The Robb Collections: I haven't written about the cameras in a while: Aires, Kiev, Zorki....and Family

    Seeing that card in the mailbox announcing the upcoming camera show was such a exciting delight. What a feast for the senses seeing and handling SO MANY cameras and lenses all in one or two rooms at a local hotel. But as time went by the room numbers decreased as did the number of tables and sellers. The one word repeatedly heard was the reason, "ebay." Frankly, the first time I'd heard of ebay was an ad in your competition. It showed an old camera on an otherwise blank page and "www.ebay.com". That was in 1998. One look at the site and I was hooked. Not only did ebay kill camera shows, it also killed independent camera shops. Much as the Internet did to record stores. Progress isn't always a good thing.

    Well mentioned in the article is the cost of film and developing. I still have film in the freezer, and ache to use it, but for the after-the-shots costs. Plus, gone too are local places to get film developed and printed. The real fun of film is not knowing how the shots are going to turn out. Many times ,years ago, going through the prints caused me to think, "I made this? Wow!" As pointed out in the article, the immediacy of digital has killed the mystery. I used formats from sub-miniature to large in the guise of a Busch Pressman 4X5 camera my father-in-law gave me. Always the excitement of picking up the prints and opening the envelope in the car because I couldn't wait to see how the pictures turned out.

    If only there could be a resurgence in film, Lomo is trying, like there is in analog sound, that is LP records, whose manufacture and sales climbs every year. The key is inexpensive and convenient developing and printing. If not printing, at least good sized images on CD or DVD so one can print the ones they want. Being the leading photography magazine, maybe you can start the revolution. Thinking back, I always preferred the pictures with white borders. Looking at them was kind of like framed art or more modern, the frame around your monitor. The white separated the slice of time and place from the reality of the present. 

    Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading and subscribing.

Scott Robb

Didn't I tell you at the beginning that I like to talk and write? She e-mailed me write back and said:

"On 8/22/2016 7:04 PM, Miriam Leuchter wrote:

Dear Mr. Robb,

Thank you so much for your letter. I always love hearing reminiscences like yours, and I share your sense of wonder, even in this digital age, of looking at a good print and thinking, "I made this? Wow!" 

We've noticed a strong interest in film among our younger readers, particularly online, where photographers who grew up in the digital era seem hungry for information and encouragement. So you can expect to see us continue to cover analog photography from time to time.

We won't have room to publish you full letter in our Your Turn column, but I'll try to fit in a part of it—probably the first paragraph and a bit of the second, if that is OK with you.

Yours,

Miriam"

Miriam Leuchter

Editor-in-Chief

Popular Photography and American Photo

2 Park Avenue, 9th floor

New York, NY  10016

+1 212 779 5463

miriam.leuchter@bonniercorp.com

www.PopPhoto.com

www.AmericanPhotoMag.com

MY response to her was:

On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 4:22 PM, Scott Robb wrote:
Miriam,
    Thanks for your kind reply. It surprised and pleased me that you would take the time to write. I would be honored if you published my letter! Oh, by the way, I was also a Shutterbug subscriber for a long time, but your mag won out as to my continued reading and enjoying.
    You all are doing a great job and no matter how long one has been making pictures, there's always something to learn in Pop-Photo.
Thanks,
Scott 

To which she replied:

Thank you so much, Scott!

Rather than cut your letter to ribbons, I decided to hold it for a month and try to fit at least a chunk of it into the November issue. 

Miriam

Miriam Leuchter

Editor-in-Chief

Popular Photography and American Photo

2 Park Avenue, 9th floor

New York, NY  10016

+1 212 779 5463

miriam.leuchter@bonniercorp.com

www.PopPhoto.com

www.AmericanPhotoMag.com

See how this all works? You write (not TEXT) to someone and they write back. Even someone as busy as the editor of a well regarded national publication feels it is necessary to personally reply to a subscriber and then publish at least what she could fit in a following issue. Here is the cover of THAT issue:

ISN'T that an amazing photograph! Such colors. Nature is truly wonderful! Below is her editorial for that issue and her photograph.

Below is the portion of my letter that she could squeeze in. For which I am very grateful.

So, that was the first non-automotive magazine to publish my words. The title "Editor" is very true. BELOW is the cover to one of the "High end" audio publications that I subscribe to. I cannot afford the vast majority of what they review and advertise, but it is still interesting, nonetheless.

I had written to this magazine as well, never expecting to have it published. So, when I turned to page 10, I stopped and thought, "Did I just see my name?" Well, I did:

Despite what I said, my frugal Scottish roots would prevent me from actually spending five figures on a couple of pieces of stereo equipment. I wrote to the editor to thank him for publishing my letter and he replied:

"Hi Scott,

Thanks for the note. It was in interesting letter.


Best regards,
Robert"

So, there you have it. Most of the letters of mine that others felt merited publication.

Thanks for looking,

Scott