Down East Magazine’s longtime editor retires

ROCKPORT — Perhaps only Texas and Alaska could rival Maine in chauvinism, a basis for the success of Down East Magazine, Editor-in-Chief David Thomas said Tuesday, as he announced his retirement after 17 years with the Rockport-based publication.

Founded in 1954, Down East can boast a circulation of 69,000, with a phenomenal 75 percent renewal rate. Surprisingly, two-thirds of the circulation is out of state.

“They are either people who have left the state, mostly for economic reasons, people who summer in Maine or think about retiring in Maine and people attracted by the landscape and the Maine ethic,” Thomas said.

Thomas was also attracted by the landscape, after making summer visits from New York City where “it can cost as much to garage your car as most people in Maine pay for their houses.”

Thomas had previously served in various editorial capacities of Life magazine, the old Saturday Evening Post, Holiday, Ladies Home Journal and Travel & Leisure magazines.

He took over from Down East founder Duane Doolittle in 1977, and put a harder news edge to the magazine. Doolittle was interested in the historic and nostalgia side to Maine.

“I didn’t think about it quite the way Wayne did. As Maine changed, we tried to change the magazine with it.” He attributed major change to “the influx of new residents, young and old. Counterculturists came to Maine in the 1960s and 1970s stayed on, began their own businesses, became artisans, business people, professional, and even government leaders.”

He shifted the editorial mix, placing more emphasis on contemporary life and culture, “as the state itself has become more focused on living in the present rather than in the heroic past.”

In his “swan song” column for Down East, to be published in the December issue, Thomas said, “Maine has been viewed through much of the 20th century as living outside the mainstream of American life. For many, this was part of the special appeal of this place. During the years of my editorship, I have seen this begin to change — recently at an accelerating pace. TV and the heady prosperity of the 1980s, which brought an expansion of economic and educational opportunities, account for much of this.”

Down East makes no major circulation efforts through discounting, as most magazines do. Dramatically increased circulation would only and force increased advertising rates. Down East actually makes money on circulation. The careful management of the magazine tries to reflect Maine Yankee values.

“Sanity does have its virtues,” he said.

Founded in 1954, Down East originally published 10 issues a year. After the magazine was bought by H. Allen Fernald and Stephen Spahn in 1977, the publishing schedule changed to 12 issues per year.

Thomas’ retirement day will find him and his wife, Karin (an interior designer and president of Maine Coast Artists), traveling to Katmandu. Having worked for periods of time in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Toronto, London, and Geneva, Switzerland, Thomas will continue the world travels he enjoys so much.

He will, from time to time, continue to write for Down East magazine as editor-at-large on topics that pique his and his readers’ interest.

Managing Editor Dale Kuhnert will take over as editor-in-chief on Jan. 1.