RAK "firsts"

Our first cover mom was Debra Brewer, who had recently retired from a career in television journalism. She's got her oldest son Charles on her lap (above) and gave birth to her second child (who turned out to be another son, Chase) six days after we did our interview.

Our first masthead listed five staff members: me, Teresa Immerman, MaryAnn Ortiz-Lieb, Lisa Sorg-Friedman and Lois Dahlgren Snider (a former Phoenix Public Library children's librarian who later moved to Seattle). In the photo above, that's MaryAnn (with Sean), Teresa (with Laurie and Daniel) and me (with David and Andrew). Daniel Friedman (our current staff photographer) took this shot at McCormick Stillman Railroad Park 19 years ago.

Our first printer was a Sir Speedy quick-print shop at McDowell Road near Third Street (it is no longer there).

Our first issue was 16 pages. It had nine ads. The subscription price was $12.

Our first "What's Up" calendar featured 30 items and occupied just two pages in the magazine.

Our first feature story, written by Teresa, was "Parents: Going through a Stage?" It explained how children "nudge us into growing and changing in ways we never expected." I read it recently and found it just as relevant today as it was then.

Our first office was my then-18-month-old son David's nursery. I moved him to a trundle bed in his 3-year-old brother's bedroom and the crib became a place to store research and office supplies.

Our first mailing address was a post office box at a Mailboxes, etc. location down the street from my house.

Our first year's total gross revenue was $43,434. (We now generate more than twice that each month.)

Our first press exposure was a five-paragraph story in the Arizona Republic announcing the magazine's launch. More than 160 people in three days called my house after reading it this small announcement, which appeared in the "Short Takes" column on page E-3. It's possible that many more called; my answering machine filled up while I was out meeting an advisor and stopped accepting messages.

a conversation with...
Publisher & Editor Karen Barr

The story about how my early years prepared me for the challenge of Raising Arizona Kids.

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March 2009 launched our 20th year

• 20 Years of Raising Arizona Kids.
• Dreams to reality, one step at a time.
• Making sense of the pieces.

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What a difference!
...Behind the 'Zine

On May 1, 2010, we debuted the sixth major redesign of our magazine in more than 20 years. Sometimes you just crave a makeover.

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Watch a 1990 video from our very first appearance on 12News.