It was an excruciating experience – I've spent a 35-year career writing about others from the detached perspective of the third person, and disclosing personal details about a serious illness was as weird as it was agonizing – but the response to the piece was overwhelming. I was flooded with letters and messages from friends, long-lost acquaintances and total strangers who were moved by my openness, saying prayers for my good health, diagnosed with kidney disease themselves or keen to tell me about someone else who was. It made me think that documenting my own case beyond the magazine article might be of some help to others.
Still, I wanted you to see the HOUR story so you could read the impetus behind my journal. And Thursday, with the change in the calendar, the October issue of the magazine has become available online. You can see the story, titled "Best Foot Forward," at this address:
http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/October-2009/Best-Foot-Forward/
Ah, but here's the rub: You can only read half the article online now. HOUR management, those sneaky rascals, posts a portion of their stories on the Internet until the current print issue leaves the newsstands. The online articles are teasers, really, to encourage you to buy the magazine. So you're just getting into the feature when suddenly you read: "There is more to this story. If you wish to continue reading, please pick up the current issue of HOUR Detroit at your local newsstand, or check back when the current issue leaves the newsstands."
It's frustrating, but shrewd marketing. Half a story is better than none, I suppose, though that's cold comfort to those who don't live around Metro Detroit. Ah, well. Take a look at the "first installment," if you like, and tell me what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment