IFS Magazine

[DC2003]

Does anyone know what happened to ifsmagazine.com? The website has a message that "The account has been suspended" for a few weeks now. Are they out of business?

 

[iluvtodd]

I hope not! I did get my latest issue of the magazine (print copy) a few weeks ago.

 

[gsk8]

Unfortunately, the owner, Susan Russell, has passed away. There is no further information at this time on what will become of IFS. Will try to keep folks updated if I find out what, if any, info will be sent out to subscribers. I suspect that it will take some time to figure things out.

 

[purplecat]

So sorry to hear that, may she rest in peace. I used to be a subscriber and before I had the internet I would pore over those issues reading front to back and again and again. I will always think of IFS Magazine fondly!

 

[Victura]

I’m sorry to hear of the owner’s passing and have fond memories of subscribing to the magazine as well.

Was it primarily run by Russell or were there other stakeholders or contributors involved who may be able to continue the publication?

 

[iluvtodd]

OMG! I am so sorry to hear about Susan Russell's passing. I think we may have met her once @ one of the skating shows in Atlantic City, NJ (Salute to the Women of Figure Skating - December 2011). May her memory be for a blessing.

 

[gsk8]

I’m sorry to hear of the owner’s passing and have fond memories of subscribing to the magazine as well.

Was it primarily run by Russell or were there other stakeholders or contributors involved who may be able to continue the publication?

It was owned and run by Susan. To my knowledge, she was the only driving force behind it.

 

[yesterday]

Could it be bought and continued by a publishing house or similar?

 

[gsk8]

It would be up to the relatives as her assets went to them. They have not buried her yet…it’s the last thing on their mind right now.

 

[Jaana]

So sorry to read about Susan Russell´s passing away....

Just remembering those good old days as Ilia Kulik was competing and I got both IFS and BOI.

 

[ladyjane]

Sincere condolences to her family and friends. I hope the magazine will continue (I've been a subscriber for many years now), but it's logical that her relatives have other things on their minds just now.

 

[Mackó]

So sorry to read about Susan Russell´s passing away.

 

[gsk8]

So sorry to read about Susan Russell´s passing away....

Just remembering those good old days as Ilia Kulik was competing and I got both IFS and BOI.

Indeed!

Could it be bought and continued by a publishing house or similar?

Unfortunately, magazine circulations don't fare very well as much due to everything going "paperless." Digitalizing is the new era. This makes advertising from revenue a huge challenge, but it's quite a bit to take on! I know

 

[ladyjane]

Susan D. Russell's obituary is published: https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/thestar/name/susan-russell-obituary?id=51566372
It was tweeted by europeonice (https://twitter.com/europeonice/status/1643609212616949762 ).

The message focuses on Susans role in International Figure Skating Magazine, and her presence at various international skating competitions. She was 70 years old.

Anyone who wishes to do so, can leave a message on the obituary website.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I hope not! I did get my latest issue of the magazine (print copy) a few weeks ago.

So did I. ????

 

[Diana Delafield]

It was owned and run by Susan. To my knowledge, she was the only driving force behind it.

This reminds me of a years-ago skating publication in tabloid newspaper form. American-something-something. Does anyone else remember it? It was owned, written, and produced by one man, a skating journalist. In one issue he apologized if the next was late, because he was moving into a large old house and would be doing all the moving and renovations himself. Then I think there was one more issue, and then the news (I don't remember the source) that he had contracted a lung infection from mold in the basement of his new house and had died. That was it. No more newspaper. I had just renewed my subscription (as I did recently with IFS for a two? three? year period to be sure I got the next Olympics coverage) but that was also gone because it had been his own publication and no one took it over. The same thing happened with a local newspaper, "The Blue Line", for girls in sports and started by a man with a family of athletic daughters. I wrote his figure skating and gymnastics columns, and a series about adult women playing recreational hockey. When the paper folded abruptly for financial reasons, that was it.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Susan D. Russell's obituary is published: https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/thestar/name/susan-russell-obituary?id=51566372
It was tweeted by europeonice (https://twitter.com/europeonice/status/1643609212616949762 ).

The message focuses on Susans role in International Figure Skating Magazine, and her presence at various international skating competitions. She was 70 years old.

Anyone who wishes to do so, can leave a message on the obituary website.

Thanks for posting the links. I'd started replying to this thread this morning and then realized it was time I left for an appointment. I didn't have time then to say I'd met Susan Russell a decade or so ago at a conference re media coverage of women's sports. I attended a presentation she gave on synchro skating, and we were both at a convivial lunch table of people interested in ice sports. It was just a passing connection, but I remember some of the entertaining anecdotes she shared from the one or two Olympics she'd covered by that time. So sorry to read of her death, and I'm sure she would be happy to know she's going home to Australia.

 

[Blueshirt]

Hello, Ms. Delafield. I think the publication you're referring to was the marvelous American Skating World.
It was very news-oriented, and I treasured each issue.
The publisher was named H. Kermit Jackson, and he was based in Pittsburgh.
I'm sorry to hear about Ms. Russell, and that we've lost another skating journalist.

 

[Diana Delafield]

Hello, Ms. Delafield. I think the publication you're referring to was the marvelous American Skating World.
It was very news-oriented, and I treasured each issue.
The publisher was named H. Kermit Jackson, and he was based in Pittsburgh.
I'm sorry to hear about Ms. Russell, and that we've lost another skating journalist.

That's the one, thank you! I knew it was three words in the title, but drew a blank on the other two. And now that you've reminded me, I remember the name of the publisher/editor/head writer also. Such a keen supporter of skating, and a writer of an entertaining personal column in every issue. You felt personally involved when he was so enthusiastic about his house renovation project and it was tragic that it was, in a way, the house that killed him.

 

[Afar]

I have only just found out about this and that was only because I emailed querying why I hadn't received the Aprl and June 2023 magazines. It's very sad to hear.
However I paid for 2 years upfront sub (I'm in UK) so have now asked for refund of the 10 copies as only received 2 since I signed up.

They are seeming reluctant to do this. I am hoping I don't have to go down some legal route.