By JB Lester
Twenty-eight years ago this May, the Healthy Planet magazine hit the streets in St. Louis. The very first edition of our magazine was handed out at the Earth Day Festival in Tower Grove Park. Earth Day back then was celebrated in May due to better weather for the festival. I set up a booth next to a tie-dye t-shirt vendor and passed out copies to passersby. It was a very friendly crowd, and the “Planet” was very well received. Back then, environmental issues were hot topics, with protests and plenty of activism. Recycling was a buzz word and “sustainability” was a concept being introduced with great enthusiasm to a liberal audience. So, the Healthy Planet magazine was a timely addition to the wave of an eco-friendly and healthy-living crowd.
My background in publishing (after founding and co-owning the Webster-Kirkwood Times newspaper in 1978) made it possible to get things off the ground. With the help of an entrepreneurial uncle who advised and financially assisted our launch, the Healthy Planet magazine soon became one of the best-read, free publications in St. Louis. I can’t say it wasn’t tough in the beginning, because it took advertising sales to put copies on the street, and any new concept has its challenges. But after that first year, we became financially more sustainable and began to grow as a business and a voice for green and healthy living in the St. Louis area. It’s been a wonderful ride. Plenty of people to thank. None more important than Jean Ponzi, the eco-mother of St. Louis and one of our columnists for decades. Her connection to the “green” community made it possible for the Healthy Planet to stay on top of sustainable topics. Other Planet family members and columnists over the years include experts in the fields of art and gardening like Anne Murphy, Michelle “Mike” Ochonicky, Linda Wiggen Kraft and cover artist Leslie Faust. And there is nothing more important than advertising sales when it comes to publishing. It’s the ads that pay for the space so we can offer the articles that help the community stay healthy and living greener lives. Thanks to members of our “Planet” marketing family over the years including Lois Brady, Colleen Zucker, Leah O’Donnell, Denise Christen, Heidi Schoen, Niki Valenti, and others who spent years helping us grow. And the office administrators and bookkeepers who keep the wheels turning include, Celia Henson, Alicia Queen-Martin, Kathy Wright and my wife Niki Lester. There have been many more contributors in sales and articles as well, all of whom did their part in adding to the success of our magazine.
Now in semi-retirement, I enjoy working with my friend and new owner/publisher, Susan Hunt-Bradford in keeping the Healthy Planet viable. There is no more important time than right now to work hard to make our Planet a healthier and more sustainable place to live. Mother Earth is still in need of our help as it was 28 years ago when our magazine started. Pick up your copy of the Healthy Planet magazine and find the resources you need to make your life healthier and greener today!