I used to subscribe to a handful of magazines. Mother Jones, Utne, Sierra Club, etc…..
Then I reached a time in my life where I wanted to simplify. I got rid of all the magazines except the one I consistently read cover to cover every month. The Sun. It has no ads but what it does have are real human stories. Fiction and non fiction. They interview people I would never otherwise hear about.
My favorite section is Readers Write. Months in advance readers are given a list of topics on which they can write their stories. I can’t think of a single month I have not cried when reading through them. Some readers complain in the letters to the editor about some of the sad stories that get printed. It doesn’t bother me. Life is sad. Sadness is real. And not all the stories are sad.
The founder of the magazine shared an incident where a prisoner had written into Readers Write and asked that if they print his story that it not reveal his name lest it endanger his life while incarcerated. Due to a proof reading error, after printing, it was discovered that that man’s name had been included. After agonizing over what to do (this is a small magazine with not a lot of money) it was decided to scrap that printing and to print the whole thing over again.
This link will get you to the magazine's website where you can sample what they have to offer. I feel like The Sun is my lifeline to humanity. Nothing in my life is more real. I know the founder is getting up in years (60+) and I dread the day he can no longer keep it going. It may sound silly but if anything happened to The Sun I would have a big hole in my life.
