Montreal Mirror

I heard some news on Friday, oh boy.

About a local magazine that will fade away.

And when I heard it, I was kind of sad.

I might have made it clear that I don’t do celebrity deaths well, especially if I am particularly fond of them or they greatly impacted my life in some way.

The news of The Montreal Mirror no long existing might very well have been something of a celebrity death to add to those from the months prior.

I read a message on Twitter announcing something about the end of the Montreal Mirror and followed where the link took me.   It was not enough to fully explain or confirm that the paper was closing so I broached the subject with a colleague.  He confirmed what I may have been denying for a long time.

As much as I sought the Montreal Mirror every Thursday, I noticed it was getting gradually getting smaller in size.  Although The Gazette itself has slimmed down over the years, I remember when Montreal Mirror was as thick as The Gazette. That should have been the first warning sign of trouble ahead but that mattered not to me.   The Mirror was still a vital source of information as to what was going on in my fair city as well as opinions on anything from politics, music and food to theatre.  

Coincidentally or not during my tenure as RPM music director at Concordia University's radio station, I strongly suggested that the station be visible in the Montreal Mirror and it finally happened during those couple of years.  The station’s charts have appeared in the Mirror.  The station and some of its radio show hosts were voted among the Top 10 in their respective radio categories.  My idea for the station’s shows to be listed in order of broadcast history in one of our Mirror bi-weekly ads was one of my best.  Although I didn’t implement it myself, I was pleased and relieved that it was carried out and materialized.

For a son of the suburbs, I always loved the Montreal artistic and creative scene and wanted to be part of it somehow someway.   I saw the Montreal Mirror as the underground culture’s equivalent to Rolling Stone magazine.  I naturally aimed to get myself scribed into its hallowed pages.  My ultimate goal was to be on the cover of the magazine.  I sought excellence at whatever artistic or creative endeavor I undertook to make it easier for the editor and team to choose me as subject matter or feature material.

The last six years have been spent on mastering radio magic as far as my show is concerned.   Scott C’s The Incubator was the first column to write about my show advising it as one people should check out.  

The Beatseeker and Block Clocker followed and had their honors of being guest DJs with me.  

I so much hoped that Shaun Thompson was going to mention my name and show information in her column after we met and interviewed Little Dragon.  When I only saw my name, I felt disappointed that my chances of Montreal being motivated to discover my show were drastically cut.  

The cover was quite unattainable under the circumstances and I also aimed for a profile within the early pages of the magazine.  Unfortunately because a Concordia University's radio station colleague had been profiled not too long before my request, I was not considered for a future feature and obviously forgotten as a future feature as well.  As disappointing as some of those events were, they are not as disappointing as learning that Montreal Mirror will no longer be in publication. 

My dreams, hopes and goals of making the cover or a feature die with the magazine. 
As much as the Mirror represented everything I aimed to achieve in so far as contributing and representing Montreal's artistic scene, the motivations and aspirations associated with the magazine do not die. I will not forget the Mirror or the opportunities lost with its demise.  I will create my own opportunities in honor of the Mirror's legacy and impact on me.

For someone that wanted to be on the cover or featured in the magazine, I managed to get my name etched into its history at least four times in the last six years.  For what it's worth in the grand scheme of things and in my own personal story, I did achieve my Montreal Mirror goals.

Thank you to the people of past, present and future people of Montreal Mirror.