Tahoe Quarterly Turns 10

(Editor’s Note: Lis Korb has been working for Tahoe Quarterly for the last four years.)

Before Tahoe City had sidewalks, before the Rim Trail was completed and when the region still had its short-lived airline (Tahoe Air), a publication was born. The brainchild of an Orange County native by the name of Theresa Ochiltree, Tahoe Quarterly (TQ) launched in late 1999 with a team consisting of editor Susan Margolis Winter (author of FAME), creative director Wendy Poore, art director Donna Doran and publisher Ochiltree (whose word-smithing lineage includes Winston Churchill, her great-great uncle).

Though the initial group split by the second issue—with Chaco Mohler (now TQ’s publisher) taking over as editor-in-chief and Doug Swanson becoming majority owner—what was set into motion a decade ago still hits the press today: a lake-wide lifestyle publication steeped in all-things Tahoe.

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From outdoor pursuits, local profiles, fine dining, wine, architecture, events and the environment, TQ has the same editorial mission as its first edition—well, minus the celebrity and fashion of earlier days. (Yep, fashion. If you’re an avid TQ reader today, you might be surprised to leaf through the archives and find full-on style spreads, like Fall 2000’s “Wild Things,” which featured lithe models draped across the Thunderbird Lodge property in pleather and leopard print.)

A Peek Inside — and Out
“Our core value has always been to highlight Tahoe in the most insider, detailed way possible,” says Mohler during an interview at TQ’s Incline Village office. “We took on the missions to look at the region as a whole and to foster Tahoe’s arts and culture potential, both of which we felt needed additional support at the time.”

So onward and upward TQ grew. With Swanson’s background in web start-ups and Mohler’s resume reading like a Jack Kerouac novel (street juggling in France, professional wind surfing and photography, contributing editor at POWDER and Skiing magazines), the duo expanded the company to include Montana’s Big Sky Journal and the Lake Tahoe Traveler visitor’s guide, then launched Festivals of Tahoe, Western Art & Architecture, TQTV programming and the online virtual reality tool VTour.

Current editor-in-chief Susan D. Rock came aboard in 2007 after many years of contributing. Known for her raw wit and foodie tendencies, Rock expanded TQ’s Food & Wine department to include a regular wine column penned by JB Budny, a Side Dish round-up of local restaurant news and a bevy of little details savvy readers may notice today. Coincidentally, the magazine’s birth year of 1999 was also a landmark one for Rock: She was engaged at Emerald Bay, bought a house in Incline, moved from Pasadena and got married at the Big Water Grille.

One Magazine’s Influence
Though many could argue TQ’s biggest contribution to the region has been promoting Tahoe through a showcase of stunning imagery, those that read between the lines would point out the magazine’s facilitation of roundtable discussions. It started with the Fall 2000 issue, for which TQ brought together area leaders in science, business, government and the Washoe Tribe to discuss the environmental state of the lake.

“An awful lot of people were involved in environmental questioning, but it didn’t seem like everyone was talking to each other,” says Mohler of the editorial decisions leading up to that first roundtable. “And we were lucky that the idea had a genesis with what Clinton had done for the area by bringing people together during the 1997 Summit. It was perfect timing.”  
Indeed, the roundtable was a hit, spawning three more similar gatherings: on local haute cuisine (2003) and art (2004), and the futures of South Shore (2006) and Lake Tahoe (2008).

“TQ’s roundtables have always been a very valuable experience, providing a great way to exchange ideas and improve the level of dialogue in the basin,” says Rochelle Nason, the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s executive director and a two-time TQ roundtable participant. “They’ve helped engage more stakeholders in Tahoe’s formal public engagement processes such as the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee and other groups that provide input.”

Likewise, the annual TQ Mountain Home Awards (printed each February) have become a forum for architects, interior designers, engineers, builders and landscapers to showcase their work and meet each other, spawning new collaborations in alpine home design.

Certainly, TQ’s in-depth coverage in other areas has also been enlightening. Case in point is Mohler himself, who cites a 2003 feature on the Quincy Library Group, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees,” as changing his perspective on forest management.
“I, along with a lot of other people in the basin, came around (to the fact) that our forests need to be managed for fire safety,” says Mohler. “I began seeing things in a different way after this article ran.”

But it’s not all serious business. The feature adjacent “Seeing the Forest for the Trees” detailed the utopic lives of Tahoe canines. In fact, the most memorable stories for many are the fun and funny (see sidebar for some favorites), or the controversial, like Robert Frohlich’s “Ciro Mancuso: Back from the Brink” profile that elicited letters from inmates nationwide with opinions on the Squaw Valley father and former drug smuggler (yes, the federal prison system has its fair share of TQ subscribers).

The Coffee Table and Beyond
With TQ’s many sister publications and ventures, it’s obvious Swanson and Mohler aren’t afraid to venture off the coffee table. “We’ve always thought of ourselves as a multimedia, not just print, company,” says Mohler.

“We like to stimulate crossovers between old and new media,” adds Swanson. “Our content is not specific to a medium.”

And that’s surely a good thing considering the web- and economy-induced print media meltdown of late.

“While a lot of print may go away, we’ve always thought a well thought—out coffee table magazine will stick around,” says Mohler.

So while the magazine has experienced its fair share of hiccups this past year (Author’s note: Due to budget cuts, my full-time post there was eliminated this spring), all involved see TQ’s next decade as fruitful and as true to Tahoe as ever. And, who knows, maybe fashion spreads will make a comeback?

~ Email the author at lkorb@moonshineink.com. Lis is currently a senior editor at Tahoe Quarterly and Moonshine Ink’s arts columnist.