10 The Great Lakes Outdoors

One of the fun things about looking at old “new” magazines is trying to determine 1) are they still alive and 2) what happened to the people who had the idea to launch them. So it was with some surprise I discovered that the associate editor of The Great Lakes Outdoors, Elaine S. Buck, is a family lawyer whose office is about a mile from my home.

The Premier Issue, 1991, of The Great Lakes Outdoors reflects some lofty goals beginning with the cover. It is not a photo of a dead deer with two smiling hunters in camouflage. The featured cover story written by Elaine Buck is about the art and nature of artist John A. Ruthven, who at that time was 67 and living in Brown County, Ohio, and the owner of the boyhood home of Ulysses S. Grant. Buck points out that Ruthven is so respectful of life that he collected roadside kills and has mounted approximately 2,000 bird skin specimens for a museum.

The editor, David J. Buck, writes in “A Great Lakes Perspective” that

“There is a story to be told here, a complex story replete with heroes and scoundrels, successes and blunders, incredible beauty and total devastation. But most of all, the story includes some very basic misconceptions. [Lists environmental disasters of the area and the corresponding problems of environmental hysteria and promises readers an unbiased, unemotional approach.] We want to provide you, our reader, with this insight. We will explore the wildlife, natural resources, and natural history of the region through editorial that is both informative and visually exciting. We think it is vital that this complex system be understood and demystified, appreciated and enjoyed.”

Unfortunately, this journal ceased after the first year according to Ulrich’s. I’m going to stop by Ms. Buck’s office and see if there is a second issue of this truly lovely magazine.

The Great Lakes Outdoors
1991, Premier Issue, Voume 1, number 1
Status: Ceased after vol.1
ISSN: (na)
Subject: Environmental studies, Conservation
Publication schedule, 6 times a year
Great Lakes Outdoors
1580 Fishinger Road
PO Box 21285
Columbus, OH 43221-0285
$20 per year
Editors: David J Buck, Elaine S. Buck