From 1994 until roughly 2002 I published Spaghetti Dinner & Dancing fanzine. I was obsessed with it back then and had the time of my life. During that time I got to know all kinds of amazing and gifted people through the mail and through their zines. We shared stories and art and followed bands and causes, all courtesy of the United States Postal Service. It was an incredible time and worthy of my romanticism. We were all in on a big secret that empowered and inspired a movement centered around the anti-consumer philosophy of DIY; do-it-yourself. Our only masters were the postal workers of America.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with most of the people I had been corresponding with due to time and circumstance. In 2002 I moved from my beloved Missoula Montana in search of action and adventure and started guiding hikes professionally. It was a dream job, and along with a new and very serious relationship, my priorities shifted.
It wasn't until I stumbled upon the website, "wemakezines.ning.com" about two months ago and started reconnecting with some of those people that I decided to document it all. So, here is my first installment of some of the incredible zines and zinesters I have come in contact with over the years. Its a small but personally significant sampling. (Bear with me on this, I'm not the most computer savy cat, plus I like to drink and listen to loud music during the evenings when I have time for this....)
Zine culture is still alive and thriving. Obviously the internet changed things a bit, but I think that we are starting to recognize that the things that made fanzines so unique and cool back then are even more important now. The idea of actually holding something in your hand that someone made and reading a type or hand written note along with it.....in the anonymous, cold, and confusing world of today's internet, cut and paste seems high tech.
