Magazine publishing is not for the faint of heart. The future is a carefully choreographed dance up to a cliff’s edge — lots of detailed planning, no guarantees, and a never-not-present awareness of an abyss (but my, what a view!). The past is a haze — we’re so focused on the next issue, and the one after, that we don’t spend too much time with the work already completed. When we make mistakes, or simply fall short of what might have been, the evidence is right there for all the world to see. When a story really sings, or a cover image leaves an impression, we’re already thinking about the words and photos and ideas to come.
In spite of the odds against us, this year, 2026, Memphis Magazine turns 50. Since April 1976, we have been bringing you a monthly dose of culture, ideas, profiles, reflections, curiosities, and appreciation for the city whose name we wear proudly. Throughout the coming months, you’ll notice a special anniversary logo on our cover, and nods to the past within our pages.
Looking back through our archives, it becomes apparent that the people creating this magazine were always a little gobsmacked to keep getting to do what we do. In April 1977, the cover was emblazoned with a banner: “1st Anniversary Issue!” Wow, one whole year! April 1978: “2nd Anniversary Issue!” Oh my gosh, we’re still here?! We kept our cool about the anniversary business when we turned 3 and 4.
We published in April 1981 what might still be my favorite of our anniversary issues, because it is the most ridiculous: There’s a birthday cake, a party hat, and a headline that reads: “The Best Years of Our Lives?! FIFTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE!” This is not the behavior of a magazine that expects to see its tenth birthday, let alone its fiftieth.
But make it to ten we did — although, perplexingly, at ten, a very solid and even popular round number, we did not mark the occasion. The cover of the April 1986 issue makes absolutely no mention of any anniversary. We were back at it by the time we turned 15, though, when we did publish an anniversary issue. (Who skips 10 and celebrates 15? English majors, that’s who.) We managed to mark the round numbers of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and even 45, though by then there was no birthday cake, and no mention of “the best years of our lives.”
As we enter the year of our 50th anniversary, we have been leafing through our voluminous archives like they’re family photo albums. We’ve been looking for clues about ourselves, about our own DNA — the questions that have motivated us over the decades, the commitment that has kept us striving to produce more and more words and pictures about the city that inspires us.
Any time I open one of our many bound collections of past issues, surprises await. We’ve published thoughtful, deeply researched, 10,000-word stories about serious topics confronting Memphis. And we’ve put ladies in bikinis on our cover. More than once. We’ll be revisiting select moments from the past 50 years over the course of 2026 (but I think we’ll leave the swimsuit photos in the past!).
To begin, we took inspiration from a cover story published in 1982, called “The Immigrants.” For that piece, our writers spoke with people whose immigration journeys had brought them to Memphis — and sought to understand the complexities of these people’s experiences. Now, with immigration again in the headlines, we have updated and added to the account, speaking to several of the families originally interviewed in 1982 and including new names and faces, too. The questions may be similar, but the context and the answers have shifted, evolved.
A central goal of this magazine is to reflect Memphis’ culture — often in celebration, occasionally in bafflement, and always with authenticity. Thank you for sharing our fascination with this place we call home. Thank you for reading and thinking and questioning alongside us for the past five decades. We’re excited to spend the year looking back and looking ahead. Our April magazine will be the anniversary issue, but you’ll notice smaller 50th-related moments all year.
In the meantime, happy new year and happy reading.
