We’ll remember 2009 for a number of reasons, chief among them the Summer of Death, which eventually became the Fall of Death. But thanks to a rotten economy, it was also a deadly time in print publishing, with over 400 titles folding over the course of the year. After the jump, we honor a few of our favorites with unofficial epitaphs snagged from deceased cultural personalities. Let us know which departed magazine you’ll miss the most in the comments, and be sure to tell us if we’ve left someone important off of our list.
Best Life
“He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.” – George Washington Carver
Best Life was the kind of men’s magazine that we felt OK about our boyfriend and our dad reading. How many publications can you say that about?
Blender
“THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC” – Kurt Vonnegut
Was all over the place Blender ever an essential read? No. Did they throw a scantily clad girl on the cover too often? Yes. But you know how much we love lists, and the review section was usually good.
Domino
“Now boast thee, death, in thy possession lies A lass unparallel’d” – Vivien Leigh
We already told you how we felt about this one here.
Gourmet
“Grim death took me without any warning I was well at night and dead at nine in the morning” – Kent
Editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl seemed just as surprised by this one as we were. We anxiously await your Conde Nast tell all, madam.
I.D.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Is posh design incongruous with our financially-strapped modern times? The demise of this beloved industry mag suggests so.
Modern Bride
“I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.” -Robert Frost
Isn’t part of the bride-to-be rite of passage going to the newsstand and buying a thick stack of magazines to post-it and torture your bridesmaids with? Now we’re just left with Brides.
Vibe
“There goes the neighborhood.” – Bette Davis
When Vibe folded last June, it was a big nail in the coffin of music magazines at large, and a devastating blow for the future of hip-hop criticism — Source and XXL have never had as much mainstream appeal.