 Scarcely
anyone who’s worked here in the past 22 years has been overlooked for
this fulsome praise from Jim Marshall, the inspirational leader of this
enterprise not long after its 1979 founding.
Jim usually hones his own thoughts for this column, but for
our 25th anniversary, we gave Jim a holiday to chat about the magazine.
Lake Superior Magazine: Quite a few of readers are acquainted with your involvement in Lake Superior Magazine, but tell us a little about your “other” life.
JIM: I was born and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and
owned a canoe outfitting business for years. I got involved early in
selling snowmobiles and have the honor of being the first U.S. retailer
to sell a Ski-Doo snowmobile. By the 1970s, I was selling steel
castings to taconite mines and other industries for Columbia Steel
Casting Company. My office was next door to one that Tom Jesperson and
Patricia Campbell were using to start Lake Superior Port Cities magazine in 1979.
As a diver, a powerboater and the last owner of rights to the SS America shipwreck at Isle Royale, I developed great interest in everything to do with Lake Superior.
As I watched the process of putting out the magazine, I was
fascinated not only by the technical skills involved, but by the pride
it could build in our region.
At that time, many who made major decisions in mining,
shipping and other industries came from elsewhere and were only
interested in this area for what it could do for them. They came in,
stayed a while and then were promoted or moved away. Their lack of
pride rubbed off.
I felt that a quality magazine such as Tom and Pat were
publishing could turn that attitude around by showing all of the good
things that this area offered. I first got involved by doing some
writing for them. But despite Tom’s great photography and creative
talents and Pat selling every ad that would shake loose in the area,
the magazine was not making money. It was a class act that focused on
our region with a lot of talented volunteers who produced articles and
art but didn’t bring in enough cash.
By 1982, it was clear that the magazine would go under
without help. I made an offer and they agreed. It wasn’t easy to
scratch together the money with the tough economy in northeastern
Minnesota at that time, but I’ve always been glad that I did.
LSM: What are changes that most stand out for you after 20 some years with the magazine?
JIM: Having my daughter Cindy head it up is certainly a
big plus. She had great management training with AT&T. She has been
invaluable in keeping the magazine afloat and making it what it is
today. But it was hard at first. I remember people working 18 hours,
through the night to get the magazine out. Computer abilities weren’t
the same; the work was intensive. Everybody pitched in, even stuffing
subscription cards into the magazines by hand when needed.
 LSM: What helped us survive 25 years in this hard-to-crack business?
JIM: The decision to increase from four to six times a
year was especially critical. Cindy also attracted our other invaluable
resource, her husband and now our associate publisher, Paul.
Changing the name from Lake Superior Port Cities to Lake Superior Magazine in 1986 was a great move that generated more national interest. Adding our annual Lake Superior Travel Guide in 1989 gave readers an essential tool for traveling. After publishing my book Shipwrecks of Lake Superior, we
began adding other authors and titles. Today we have 19 books on lake
and regional history, ships and wrecks, hauntings and even a cookbook.
Quite the variety!
LSM: What gives you the most satisfaction with the magazine?
JIM: What we are really dealing with is the tremendous
gift - Lake Superior and this whole region - handed down over billions
of years. The shore was so hostile, so steep and so challenging that
anything that happened here happened because someone really wanted it
to happen.
The magazine for me provides the privilege of knowing people who live
around the lake and reflecting the strange, almost magnetic hold that
the lake has on everybody.
I’ve been so proud of the people who are and were associated
with us. From Tom and Pat right through to our staff today, I’ve been
lucky to meet many talented and skilled writers, photographers,
artists, business people and all of the folks behind the scenes who
keep our business humming.
We’ve got an incredible team who want the magazine to be
right and want people to feel better about themselves after they’ve
read it. What better reason can you have for doing something?
LSM: How do we stack up today and for the future?
JIM: I like to say that our future is in our own hands. As
a family operated business, our success is truly the result of love and
devotion to the goal of pleasing our customers and giving them a “wow”
in everything we do. It is also the love for Lake Superior and this
region by so many loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers.
When I bought the magazine, we only printed about 2,000
copies each issue. Now our press run reaches 10 times that, we have
subscriptions in all 50 states and in almost 45 foreign countries. But
without loyal readers and advertisers we couldn’t survive … and would
have no reason to do so. We owe each of them a big thank you for our
growth and progress.
With all of those who have and continue to support us, it’s
little wonder that we’ve not only survived but prospered when others
have not.
We have a lot to be thankful for … and to be proud of.
A selection of Jim Marshall’s columns of lake lore and his inland sea voyages
has been published as Lake Superior Journal: Views from the Bridge
by Lake Superior Port Cities Inc. Follow this link
for more information. |
