Well, People, We’ve Had a Good Run

So far this year, I’ve received in the mail, more notices than I can count, soliciting me to renew my People magazine subscription. These ‘best’ and ‘last chance’ offers started in January and have continued throughout May. I haven’t responded to any of them, as I’ve been considering not renewing my subscription. And then today, I realized that the time for consideration is over. It appears that the last issue I received (back at the beginning of May) was the May 9 issue with Helen Mirren on it. I hadn’t even noticed yet that they had stopped arriving. Perhaps because I am this many issues behind.

I’ve been a PEOPLE magazine subscriber for a lonnnnng time. I’m not sure exactly how long, but two of the issues I’ve kept date back to the early 90s. Earlier today, I dug them out of a box of nostalgia items I keep in the storage room, and flipped through them. Black and white articles and advertisements startled me. Good heavens!

My oldest issue has Fred MacMurray on the cover and commemorated his passing. Mr. MacMurray evokes such fond memories for me. As a kind, wise, and easy going TV dad, he reminded me my own dad, even sharing his first name. I remember watching Walt Disney’s Son of Flubber and Follow Me Boys! at elementary school assemblies, signaling the close of another school year.

I also have a Julia Roberts issues from the early 90s, but had trouble recalling why I saved it. I don’t think I was particularly concerned about her 18 month Hollywood absence, but flipping through the pages didn’t reveal any clues as to why I had thought this issue was special.

In the 90s there were a LOT of covers covering the royals, particularly Princess Diana. Well, let’s face it, I guess the royals have always been popular cover fodder. I see that Harry is on the cover of one of my waiting-to-be-read issues, and Kate and William are also frequent guests. I’m not as big a royal watcher as some people I know, but I can’t deny that I was interested in Princess Diana and impacted by her untimely and tragic death.

As a family, we made the most of my People magazine subscription. When I finished with it, I would pass it on to my mom. After she was done with it, she would pass it on to my sister, and then eventually it went to my niece. There were a couple years when my son was young and I was skint, that my mom paid for the subscription, reluctant to break up our hand-me-down chain, even though her interest was pretty much limited to the crossword puzzle.

“You’d have better luck with that crossword if you actually read the magazine,” I would tell her. But my sister was always willing to try to finish up a puzzle that Mom had started, and it was a bonus if she got a magazine with a Puzzler that Mom had missed.

I know some people look down on People as a magazine, considering it little better than The National Enquirer, but I’m sticking up for it. Aside from the celebrity news, which I admit I have enjoyed, there were so many stories of real people – inspiring people that have overcome adversity, contributed to technological and medical advances, and made a difference in the lives of individuals and communities.

So, you might ask, if I’m such a fan, why the break-up? I think the number of back issues that I need to catch up on, and that I hadn’t noticed that they quit arriving sort of answers that question. Also, I’m starting to not know the covered celebrities. It makes me wonder a bit about the target demographic. I think its best that we part while we’re still on good terms. And I never say never. Who knows, we may get back together some day.