I know in most instances you’ll glance at an editor’s letter and zip by. I’m the new editor of Yankee, and I hope you’ll stay with me a moment longer. From the time I published my first story in this magazine, more than 300 issues have left our Dublin, New Hampshire, offices, each one different from the other. Our intent has always been to create a mix of stories and photography to inform, to entertain, and to give our readers down-to-earth, useful knowledge. Above all, we have worked to let you hold, with each issue, the elusive essence of New England.
The size, design, and format of this winter issue of Yankee are certainly different from what you’ve seen over the years. My editors love it. I trust you will, too. A few months ago, we published a stunning photo essay about the island world of Betsy Wyeth, and I wished then that we’d had larger pages on which to display it. Take a look inside — you’ll see what I mean. Our goal is still to bring New England into your homes with pages you’ll want to linger over. Except now we can do it better: More words. More photos. More usefulness. More New England.
Yankee was first published in September 1935, and it was the same size as the one you’re holding now. The vision of Yankee’s founder and editor, Robb Sagendorph, was simple: Bring New England to life. The magazine was reduced in size only out of necessity — paper was in short supply during World War II. Our digest size made us unique for many years, and I think we were loved all the more for our idiosyncratic look.
We will not lose the vision that has made us such a longtime favorite. Just beyond this letter you’ll find Edie Clark’s Mary’s Farm and then page after page of New England, with all its beauty and its quirks. It is New England that makes us your magazine. Our issues will continue to be filled with stories that delight and affect you; all the while, we will not forget to make our pages so useful that you’ll turn to them again and again.
Along with Yankee’s new size, we’re changing our frequency. The magazine will now be published six times a year. Each issue will carry the essence of the season: winter, spring, summer, fall, and, of course, the holidays, plus a special travel-planning issue featuring the places that make New England resonate with people far beyond our borders. Here’s what will not change: We’ll make you feel that New England has knocked on your door and asked to come in. Just clear a little more space for us.
Think of our Web site, YankeeMagazine.com, as a place to find more of what you love about Yankee, with hundreds of recipes, travel tips, and home ideas never more than a click away. In addition, we’ll be adding new online features, including my Behind the Scenes at Yankee column each week. My goal as editor is to assure you that we have not departed from what has made Yankee such a beloved magazine, but rather that we have arrived.
Mel Allen
Mel Allen is the fifth editor of Yankee Magazine since its beginning in 1935. His first byline in Yankee appeared in 1977 and he joined the staff in 1979 as a senior editor. Eventually he became executive editor and in the summer of 2006 became editor. During his career he has edited and written for every section of the magazine, including home, food, and travel, while his pursuit of long form story telling has always been vital to his mission as well. He has raced a sled dog team, crawled into the dens of black bears, fished with the legendary Ted Williams, profiled astronaut Alan Shephard, and stood beneath a battleship before it was launched. He also once helped author Stephen King round up his pigs for market, but that story is for another day. Mel taught fourth grade in Maine for three years and believes that his education as a writer began when he had to hold the attention of 29 children through months of Maine winters. He learned you had to grab their attention and hold it. After 12 years teaching magazine writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, he now teaches in the MFA creative nonfiction program at Bay Path University in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Like all editors, his greatest joy is finding new talent and bringing their work to light.
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