Arthur Magazine Only Kinda Dead

Well, the Arthur weirdness continued over the weekend. A story appeared in the LA Times on Friday, illustrating the widening rift between editor Jay Babcock and publisher Laris Kreslin. Here's the link to that particular story. Laris' note to Arthur readers was also made available today, suggesting further weirdness. Either way, it looks like Babcock will no longer be involved in the free zine.

Dear Arthur Friends,

As of Friday, Feb. 23rd, Arthur Magazine is on indefinite hiatus. We at Lime Publishing, the current publisher, had been working toward transitioning operations to a new publisher since the start of the year. A breakdown this past week in negotiations for the future of the magazine led to an unfortunate and perplexing announcement that "Arthur is Dead."

This poorly-timed message was sent out, against explicit wishes of Lime Publishing, to the public before the staff, advertisers or contributors were notified. It was disheartening to receive distressed phone calls from dedicated people in the Arthur community, who devoted their time and creative energy on the magazine.

The flood of calls and emails we've been receiving from friends and readers is heartwarming and reassuring, especially after what has been a difficult time. The support we've seen is tantamount to the strength of the Arthur community. Thank you to staff, contributors, distributors, readers and advertisers for all your dedication. We will post Thank You's on the Arthur site to demonstrate just how many people have contributed in so many ways to Arthur and made it the celebrated paper it is.

The current hiatus may still lead to future opportunities for Arthur, but for the time being we are paring down operations. The website will be kept up as an online store for back issues and other merchandise. An archive of all our Arthur issues as PDFs will also be available for people to access.

Shortly we will be sending notifications to subscribers for options on cancelled subscriptions.

Please check back often for updates.

Sincerely,
Laris Kreslins
Lime Publishing