The brief West magazine experiment at the L.A. Times ends with the June 17 restaurant issue — and with it apparently goes the tradition of a serious Sunday magazine at the LAT. After that, the magazine will go monthly — and go soft. The first monthly issue due July 29 will "explore health, fitness and beauty in Southern California." Because Angeleno newspaper readers are clamoring for that, eh? Lennie LaGuire, who took the buyout, is in charge of reinventing the magazine as a consulting editor. Today's memo from associate editor John Montorio.

From: Montorio, John
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2007 9:36 AM
To: All LATimes Employees
Subject: West Magazine

All --

With the publication of the June 17th restaurant issue, West magazine will move to a monthly publishing schedule for the rest of 2007. We're exceptionally proud of the work our staff has done on West as a weekly, and intend to use the coming months to produce a series of monthly magazines that combine the best of what we do now with some new voices and features, along with a strong commitment to showcasing great writing and photography. Look for special themed issues beginning July 29, when the magazine will explore health, fitness and beauty in Southern California. Other upcoming editions of the magazine will focus on travel, outdoor living and home design, along with other topics of general interest. As we develop these monthly issues, we'll also be working behind the scenes to chart new directions for the magazine, in print and online.

John Montorio & Lennie LaGuire

I'll be curious to see how the content of a theme magazine on health, fitness and beauty differs from the recently launched Image section.

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