In Search of the Perfect Name...

for our new magazine, that is.

In January, 2010, we will launch a quarterly magazine devoted to the people, places, and things that make Lake Superior's Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan, both past and present, so compelling. But what to name this magazine?

A dear friend calls the Keweenaw Peninsula "Brigadoon" after the 1950’s musical about the enchanted Scottish village preserved forever in a simpler, idealized past. Well, my friend should know. Having grown up here, moved away for his career, and returned again he jokes that the veil of mist lifts as you cross the lift bridge into Hancock.

The Brigadoon of musical theater literally disappears into the mists of time only materializing one day every 100 years. Today's Keweenaw Peninsula is certainly not frozen in time (although some may argue about that come February), and while this place does derive a lot of its energy and mystique from its colorful copper mining history--a history that made the Keweenaw a national and global destination at one time--it is also powered by the people living here today who are meeting its contemporary challenges while minding that history and the natural beauty of the landscape.

We are launching our magazine with a keen appreciation for the hardships and enchantments of this isolated, rugged, whimsical, sometimes cranky, always surprising and beautiful place. We will profile ex-urbanites who belatedly discovered the Keweenaw, woodsmen who hunt, fish and keep pigs, high-tech professors, artists, and entrepreneurs. There will be creative non-fiction by local (and non-local) writers, photography by local and regional photographers, articles on history, plants, wildlife, articles on art, business, hunting, sports, the climate (how do we survive 25 feet of snow?), the plethora of writers, artists and crafts people who live and work here...a young people's page, you name it....

No, really, you name it. And if we choose your name for the magazine you will receive (along with fame, if not fortune!) a year's subscription to the magazine.

Here's all you have to do:
1. Come up with a perfect name.
2. Click on the Comments window at the end of this blog post.
3. Type a quick note with your name, email address, and your idea for the magazine's name. (Or if you'd rather shoot us an email you can send your idea to Laura Smyth at lsmyth@thimbleberrypress.com.)

We hope to hear from you, we hope you will share this blog post with friends, family, co-workers and anyone you think might be interested or who shares our love of the Keweenaw Peninsula.