The death of Life

I know I'm not the only one who adores vintage issues of LIFE Magazine.

When I was in college, supposedly studying in the bottom stacks of the library, I would always grab a carrel near the bound volumes of LIFE and spend hours upon procrastinating hours paging through the decades.

They were a fascinating glimpse into my parents', and my country's past -- sure, edited carefully to show mostly white people of a certain class and social standing, but still an interesting glimpse into personal lives, the kind of stuff you didn't read about in History 101.

After college, I even splurged and bought a few bound volumes of the old mags for myself, kind of bringing a bit of the St. Thomas college library stacks into my own home, where I could flip through them any time I wanted. (Of course, I can't remember the last time I actually looked at them.)

LIFE has died many times, and I wasn't even clearly aware that it was back, as a Parade Mag kind of Sunday-paper supplement, but I did still feel a little pang to see that it's now died one more time. I may be digging those bound volumes out of the basement for a little reminscing some time soon.