>> Clem and OHJ back together.
> not happy to see in the latest OHJ that he's
> been eaten up by the barricudas that got OHJ
> and digested it into glossy mush,

As a long-term OHJ reader (1974-2000) and contributor(1982-1996)  I'd like
to toss in my 2 cents here.

Through the 1980s and early '90s I was pleased to share with my fellow
preservationeers what I was learning in the grit and grim of my trades work
on older buildings by writing many articles for OHJ. In the mid-'90s I could
see an editorial shift from the "true grit" of preservation toward
"arm-chair" "lifestyle" content. This shift seemed to be consumated when the
magazine was sold to another publisher, which seemed to be using This Old
House magazine as a model.

My article on structural timber repairs in the Sept. '96 issue was a good
example of the new editorial slant. My detailed series of technical photos
and drawings were reduced to postage-stamp size and inserted in the margins
at goofy angles, while a photo of me working on the end of a timber was
splashed across two full pages. Two paragraphs describing the close teamwork
between the trades and the professionals involved were slashed. "Sells
magazines..." said the magazine. "Doesn't help my readers," said I. And I
quit writing articles for OHJ. For a few years OHJ seemed to continue on the
same path, glossy and much less useful than the "old days." Some readers
were frustrated with the change and a few started up their own "eZine," Old
House Cronicles. I turned to writing for my own Practical Restoration Report
series.

A year or two ago, OHJ was once again sold to another publisher. Since then
the content seems to be shifting back to the utility it once had. I am
keeping an eye on OHJ, hoping it will become as useful as it once was.

John
by hammer and hand great works do stand
by pen and thought best words are wrought

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