Something’s Cooking at In These Times
As a journal of the Left, In These Times has never placed vegetarianism high among the virtues. James Weinstein, the founder-publisher-editor, could think of one vegetarian on the staff; he could also think of one Republican. When Weinstein called last week to say that Paul Obis, founder of Vegetarian Times, had agreed to succeed him as publisher, he made it clear that Obis’s diet had no bearing on the decision.
“There are nuts all over,” says Weinstein. “We get letters about saving trees–they say we shouldn’t print on paper.” But the circulation of In These Times isn’t so large that it can easily afford to offend its nuts. And the appointment of Obis is placing the above reader at risk. First he’ll know a moment of giddy excitement when he learns that his magazine has just invited tofu’s pioneer chronicler to take the reins. But then he’ll learn more. . .
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In the early 70s, when even yogurt was obscure and Texturized Vegetable Protein only a gleam in the eye of Archer Daniels Midland, Obis started Vegetarian Times to fan the flames among the scattered faithful. The tribe increased, the magazine got hot, and in 1991 Obis sold it to Cowles Enthusiast Media for a few million dollars. Obis went on publishing Vegetarian Times until Cowles fired him–when something’s not yours anymore, he says now, leave it–and then he became a magazine consultant. “It’s a terrible business,” he says. “You don’t have the authority to make the changes you think are necessary, and if people don’t follow your advice [and things go wrong] they think you gave them bad advice.”
“It’s probably unlikely that this magazine will ever break even. But that’s not unusual–the Nation doesn’t break even. It’s the kind of publication that will probably require subsidies forever. But there’s a lot of room to improve the business operation of the magazine and make sure that people are more aware of it. That should make people feel better about contributing.”
“My wife broke her leg about three years ago,” Obis began. “The parents of my children’s classmates organized a dinner brigade. The first night they brought over Swedish meatballs. I thought, ‘I can’t eat this stuff!’ My kids thought it was great– they’d had enough tofu in their lives. The second night they brought over roast beef, and I thought, gee, maybe I should say something. The third night they brought over something else, and it dawned on me, the food they’re bringing over is spiritual food–and it would be so rude of me to say anything other than thank you and eat what I was given.
Answer: It depends on the office zeitgeist. If the next morning your editor is pummeled as he steps off the elevator, you screwed up.
Of course it’s one thing to make fun of Krasnow and another to make fun of her thesis, which is that working women should think long and hard about going home to their children. The Tribune is full of working women, and many felt dissed. One of them, Womanews columnist Barbara Brotman, being in a position to, wrote a rebuttal. Brotman toted up the incoming–the piece by Lauerman, a piece in U.S. News & World Report titled “The Lies Parents Tell Themselves About Why They Work,” a piece in Newsweek titled “The Myth of Quality Time,” and a piece in Fortune titled “Is Your Family Wrecking Your Career (And Vice Versa)”–christened the barrage “Bash Working Mom Week,” and mourned, “I don’t have any answers. All I have is a shapeless, helpless frustration, a pile of clippings and a raw wound with a fresh dusting of salt.”
