‘Keep the Red Shirt!’ Readers Respond to Editor Mel Allen’s Retirement

In announcing his retirement from Yankee earlier this year, longtime editor Mel Allen also retired the only email address he’s ever had—his work email—and launched his own account, inviting readers to connect with him at melallen716@gmail.com. In the July/August issue, we printed a selection of the letters he’s received, which you’ll find below, plus more gems from his inbox.

Update: A new collection of Mel Allen’s writing, Here in New England: Unforgettable Stories of People, Places, and Memories That Connect Us All, will be published this August by Earth Sky & Water LLC. The book is available by advance order from the publisher as well as from Yankee’s online store.

* * * * *

I have never in my life responded to any article until seeing your editor’s letter in the January/February issue, and reading what Jud Hale impressed upon you about needing to make readers feel. When I visited New England for the first time many years ago, I saw my first issue of Yankee in the lobby of the hotel where I was staying. I sat there and read the magazine, cover to cover, and when finished I decided to subscribe to the magazine. For years I loved visiting, walking, and hiking in New England; up until 2020, my husband and I traveled there every fall. Thank you, Yankee, and New England for all the joy you have brought into my life. —Donna Watson, North Carolina

My wife and I live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country, and a few years back we were introduced to the PBS program Weekends with Yankee. That program and then the subscription to your magazine, Yankee, enticed us to visit New England. We visited Boston and attended a Red Sox game and spent another day touring the city. We traveled to Maine and stayed in Portland and Brunswick. We visited L.L. Bean, sailed a schooner on Casco Bay, and took the cog railway to the top of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Now we’re planning an extended vacation in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, to enjoy Lake Winnipesaukee and to ride on the Conway Scenic Railroad. All were inspired by your wonderful magazine and the PBS program. Thank you for all the insights, inspiration, and research about New England. We wish you the best in your new adventures. —Stephan and Nancy Murphy, Delaware

Congratulations on your retirement and, mostly, thank you. Yankee always brings me back to myself no matter how far away I always seem to get. Love the last issue, and keep the red shirt! —John Kelly, Massachusetts

I just opened the March/April issue and, as always, I read your message first—and I am sad. Since discovering Yankee a few years ago, I look forward to each new issue when it arrives. Thank you so much for all your work there. You have helped take me to New England places I would otherwise never had known about and to those I may not ever get to see. Thanks for all the variety of interesting stories and topics. I know Yankee will go on, but your touch on it has been like Linus’s blanket for me. May your work on your collection of stories be all you want it to be. —Bill Sullivan, Massachusetts

I have subscribed to Yankee for more than 40 years. (I even have a photo on my refrigerator of a little house I wanted to buy from the “House for Sale” column.) I first visited Vermont in 1971 on my honeymoon. It was a bitter cold January, but once we crossed the border I felt a shift in my body: This is where I belonged and wanted to live. It didn’t happen, but I have visited many times over the years…. I’ve learned so much and have visited places in New England I would never have known about except for all the exceptional writing and photography in Yankee. I look forward to each issue and hope it doesn’t change too much. Best wishes as you begin the next chapter! —Peg Ross, via email

Like so many thousands of Yankee readers, I was stunned by your decision to retire. Again like so many others, I’d become addicted to seeing your smiling face as you leaned against a doorway in that beautiful red shirt. The problem with not updating that photo every couple of years is that we readers start thinking that you are immortal, that you will always be there, that things will stay the same. But I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way—we just became spoiled by your continued presence and wanted it to last forever. —Chris Bell, Michigan

I have been a Yankee reader for many years, but the most recent issue (March/April 2025) was extra special, especially fitting as it is your last as editor. Truly, there was an article for anyone who loves New England as much as I do. I enjoyed the feature on historic gardens and have made plans to (re)visit them over the summer. Having grown up in coastal Maine, I also appreciated the pieces featuring Belfast and Stonington. I look forward to reading your collection of stories and wish you the very best for a happy retirement. —Anne Cross, Connecticut

Thanks for being a devoted, happy, thoughtful, appreciative, serene and philosophically grounded presence in my life through the Yankee issues that have provided me New England oxygen since my time arriving here in Southern California 10 years ago. Your words, and the words of all Yankee’s contributors and staff, allow for the smell of fresh autumn leaf liter to permeate the dry air of our Mediterranean climate. Thanks—I wanted you to know that your work mattered to me greatly. Having grown up in New England I miss it; naturally, Yankee has always been a part of my life since I was a kid. Your leadership will be hard to replace, but I’m sure you’ll be in the background supporting the next steward(s) of this important enterprise. Enjoy the lobsters and McIntosh apples in your retirement. —John Polito, California

I have only been to New England three or four times, but I have traveled there many more times in words and photos thanks to your careful leadership of Yankee through the decades. I owe you a debt of gratitude for the cherished parts of New England that warmly reside in this Texan’s heart. —Dan K. Utley, Texas

It was a difficult turn of the page when my eye caught the retirement notice on the contents page of the March/April issue of Yankee. I’ve always enjoyed reading your editorial/Inside Yankee piece almost more than reading the full issue itself. I will miss your voice and fingerprints in the future issues of Yankee, and I look forward to reading at some point one of your stories from your collection.  Enjoy your retirement and walks along that dirt path to where lake and mountain appear. —Melinda Doane, Florida

When I read your article about leaving Yankee, I said out loud, “Ohhhh!” and felt sad, like a good friend was moving away…. I just wanted to let you know that someone in Connecticut had the initial reaction of an actual stranger feeling like a friend. —Debra O’Connor, Connecticut

I wanted to offer you a sincere thank-you for your decades of service at Yankee. There truly is something indescribable about the feeling I get every time your magazine hits my mailbox. (Ask my wife—she’s seen my childlike glee at its arrival on more than one occasion.) Truth be told, by now I have a system down whereby I aim to finish up one issue just as the next one arrives…. In service of this goal, I find that reading every last word, including every last advertisement and every last writer’s bio, helps. Anything that can work to avoid that dreaded “I’m finished with my Yankee” feeling…. Your editor’s letter will be sorely missed, but I consider myself fortunate to have read it all these years. Best wishes for a wonderful, well-deserved retirement. —Jeff Powell, Rhode Island

My life here in Brooklyn has been so enriched by my copy of Yankee arriving in my mailbox every month. First thing always has been reading your article. So just wanting to say thank you and wish you the best in your new chapter. You’ve given your readers so much these past years, and now it’s your turn to be blessed by the loving energy that will undoubtedly embrace you with new and fresh joys as you navigate forward. —Janny Branciforte
New York

Yankee Magazine

More by Yankee Magazine