I don’t know if Anna Wintour has ever waded waist-deep through mud for Vogue, but after doing so myself at our style shoot, I think she should. As an editor-in-chief, I’ve learned when to be the fearless leader, and when to be the comic relief.
As you can see from our cover, this issue’s style shoot was southwestern themed, which worried me because how the hell do you make that work in South Carolina’s state capital? Well, our senior photographer came in telling us about this abandoned mineral quarry that he found.
And I have to admit, I was blown away.
We made our models go barefoot because we didn’t want to risk ruining expensive shoes that didn’t belong to us. And even with knowing that the ground was soft at spots, I still managed to get stuck in wet clay that day.
Which is a lot like making a magazine: even though the ground looks firm and many have walked the same steps before you, there are times where you falter.
And I think we’re better for it.
I’ve interviewed a lot of bands, and Pillow Talk was one of the most sincere and open groups I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with. They come off as more of a group of best friends than a band — the last year hasn’t been easy for them, but they still manage to keep each other laughing. You can read their story, our Scene & Heard feature, on page 39.
With the Pride parade coming up on Oct. 24, our articles editor, Jake Margle, sat down with the S.C. Pride’s president, Jeff March, to discuss the future of the LGBTQ movement after the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage, featured on page 22.
I envy contributor Holly Heaton, who made the rounds sampling Columbia’s best food trucks for our Food Fight column.
And Kathleen Milewski waded through some muck of her own while collecting quotes for “Overheard at … the Frat Lots.”
Sure, this wasn’t easy — anyone on masthead can tell you about what we went through to get this thing into one piece, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t enjoy every minute of it.
So here’s to a good year, right?
