Winnipeggers
gathered to say thanks to Aiden Enns on May 25—thanks for a job well done in
creating Geez, a magazine described as protesting the "unholy alliance between
church, state, market and military" that also celebrated the
"spiritual dimensions of biking, energy efficiency and canning pickles."
This year
Enns gave up the magazine to a new group of editors based in Detroit, as I wrote about in the Winnipeg Free Press
in January.
In fact,
it was my privilege to write about Geez three
times, including being (I think) the first mainstream journalist to write about the magazine soon after its
creation in 2005 (in the Winnipeg Free
Press and Mennonite World Review).
Five
years along, I had a chance to check in and see where things were at with the
magazine. Helpfully, the editors of Geez posted a copy of my article in the Free Press on their website.
Together, the three articles offer a snapshot of the beginning, middle and end of Geez (in Winnipeg.)
Like Aiden,
I’m sorry Geez never reached the
level where it could be financially sustainable. Creating a publication is hard!
He’s to be commended for taking it this far, and all the best to the new owners
in Detroit as they look to take it into the future.
