From Where I Sit November 2006

by Rich Medel

“65° Magazine is providing glimpses of what’s going on behind the scenes, on one hand, while giving a voice to local residents on the other.”

We’ve been gratified by the response to our first issue of 65° Magazine – The Magazine of the Monterey Peninsula. People from all over the Peninsula have apparently been discovering our publication with astonishment and delight.
Our distribution manager expressed surprise at how popular the magazine has almost immediately become. “I put a stack of these things in a public place,” he said, “and sometimes they are all gone by the next day.” We hear stories of people saying things like, “65° is just what we’ve needed!” and “The Peninsula has needed this publication for a long time!”

We’ve also been gratified by the early reports from our advertisers concerning how quickly they have begun to get results from their ads in our magazine.

We’re pleased by all the responses but, quite frankly, we’re not surprised by it. For the past three years my partners and I have been publishing a Bay Area lifestyle magazine — the award winning oneten Magazine. Check out www.110mag.com.) We’ve had a great time with that publication and learned how to put together a publication that people find easy to pick up, difficult to put down, and impossible to throw away.

As we have been doing on behalf of our oneten audience, 65° Magazine is providing Monterey Bay residents with glimpses of what’s going on behind the scenes, on one hand, while giving a voice to local residents on the other. We’re not simply wowed by famous stars; we’re wowed by the local people themselves, and by the incredible lives they lead. Local people are themselves the stars in the stories in 65° Magazine.

This November issue is full of good things about who we are and about the interesting and often fascinating people who move among us and who share our lives in our Monterey Bay Communities.

We’re continuing to push forward with our role of being agents for Inter Peninsula communication. For example, Richard Kier tells a story that even the longtime Peninsula residents have for the most part never heard before. Richard is the current Facilities Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He started working for the aquarium when it was still little more than a twinkle in David Packard’s eye. He is therefore able to say with perfect accuracy, “I’ve been at the Monterey Bay Aquarium longer than the fish have,” with a twinkle in his own eye.

Richard, working with David & Julie Packard, designed the first aquarium exhibits. He has some marvelous stories from the two-and-a-half decades of both facilitating and observing the development of the institution to its current state. His story is remarkable and awe-inspiring.

This issue’s story of the Casa Bodega makeover is guaranteed to warm your heart. Odis Cribs did an amazing job in meeting the challenges of creating a warm place in the middle of Monterey for residents to drop by and have a drink, a sandwich, and some camaraderie in a spot most tourists will pass by.

Also in this issue Daniel Koffman describes how serious he is about his light-hearted Art with a Smile productions. Koffman speaks with intelligence and passion about his work. Millions of pieces of his art have been spread among public venues, billboards, coffee-cups, and have been given places of honor in the residences of discriminating art fanciers. One of Kauffman’s original works hangs on a wall in a private home beside a Picasso.

Many area residents recognize Kauffman’s work, but few would suspect the artist’s passionate heart for serving our planet. He has started and continues to promote projects that range from replacing the depleting populations of Monterey Pines on our peninsula to serving peace and unity across the world.

Our Editorial Director, Don Huntington, says that he couldn’t invent people and stories as interesting as those that are here on the Peninsula. The stories are more compelling than any fiction we could write. We’ve already told a few of these and thousands are waiting to be told. So we’re just getting started!

We’re glad for all the Peninsula residents who are getting excited about our 65° Magazine. We’re excited too! Just wait until you see what we have planned for December! You haven’t seen anything yet! °

Rich Medel
Publisher
rich@65mag.com