When I was 17-years-old I bought a subscription to Sports Illustrated (SI). At the time, TROT Magazine was the only magazine that arrived to the Fisher household by mail, and I read and enjoyed it, but without even getting into the draw of its annual Swimsuit Issue, SI was just cooler.
I paid for - and actually kept my copies of - SI for years, even after adulthood and eventually parenthood hit, with both things taking away most spare time that I once had to read anyway.
I still enjoyed the magazine, when I found time to read it, but the one thing that I always made time to read regardless, was my favourite piece - The Life Of Reilly. It was the first signed opinion piece in the history of SI; a one-page column written by Rick Reilly, found opposite the ad on the inside-back-cover of the publication.
Basically, The Life Of Reilly is what you’re reading now. In essence, it’s what we call in TROT-lingo, The View.
That for the last five years, I’ve been living out what was a childhood dream of mine in writing this column - whether I realized it at the time or not - I have to thank some of those that came before me, including one-time TROT Editor Chris Roberts, whose team revolutionized the magazine some 25 years ago.
I actually remember when that happened - when TROT became cool in my eyes too.
I remember the magazine arriving one month, and it had changed - for the better. A number of the changes were slightly familiar, at least to someone like me that also read SI.
There had been a changing of the guard at TROT, and new Editor Chris Roberts, Associate Editor Darryl Kaplan, and Head of Production Sue Longley, teamed up to give the magazine a new look - make it their own so-to-speak.
There was no doubt in my mind that some of these new things came from SI, but why not? People have been trying to mimic the best forever, so why wouldn’t a sporting magazine not want to look a bit like SI?
The new-look magazine was a success, and eventually Chris was hired away to run Georgian Downs. Darryl then ran the magazine for approximately 15 years, and after having the title of Director of Advertising for 14 years, I was then handed the reins, and have had the honour of being in charge for exactly five years now - since December, 2019.
You’ve heard of Darryl Kaplan - he’s SC’s President and CEO now. And you’ve probably heard of, remember or know Chris Roberts, who is currently the Executive Director and G.M. of Casino Nova Scotia.
Who is Sue Longley you say? Don’t worry, it won’t hurt Sue’s feelings if you’re not familiar with her name - in fact, she prefers it this way. Also in fact, she’s going to kill me for even writing this, so let’s hope when she’s laying it out tomorrow morning, as she’s done with EVERY version of ‘The View’ that’s ever been written, that she doesn’t actually read it - or you may never get to read it - haha.
You see, like the title of this column, and as I mentioned in a piece on page 54, I think it’s important - especially in our 50th Anniversary Issue - to pay homage to those that came before us. And in Sue’s case, someone who’s also still here.
Yes, if we’re going to talk about TROT, both past and present, it can’t be done without talking about Sue Longley, because her tenure here puts us all to shame.
19 years for me - meh. Sue has been here, laying out stories, creating ads, and putting this entire magazine together for you, me, and tens of thousands of other horsepeople, for 39 years!
TROT is 50 - that’s impressive. Sue has laid out and produced approximately 78% of those issues - well over 450 editions. Just as impressive!
Yes, Sue flies under the radar, just as she likes to. You may have seen her name on the table of contents page, but that’s about it. But for me, and many of ‘those that came before me’, Sue has been the glue that holds TROT together.
Sue is also retiring in a few months, and although I’ve congratulated her, and am truly happy for her, she’s going to be missed.
In actuality, she first decided to retire a little over a year ago, but I’ve kind of stalled her with a pathetic combination of silence and inactivity on that front. Trust me though, I’ve been doing that for both me and you!
That’s not fair though, and her actual retirement now looms… that is if she doesn’t get mad at me for writing this and quits first!
TROT is a team though, made up of staff, contributors, advertisers and readers. Without all of the above, there would be no magazine - no 50 years. And like any team, when one member leaves, we just do our best to try and replace them.
I did want to publicly congratulate Sue though, and make sure you, our readers, were aware of her role in helping this team hit its 50th birthday.
A number of years after I started at TROT, and had become immersed in almost every facet of the magazine, Ted Smith, SC’s longtime President and CEO, gave me a Christmas card in which he wrote, “Danny; You ARE TROT Magazine.”
That was one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received, and I still have the card. Yet even though the compliment still means just as much to me today, I’ve come to realize that to last 50 years as a print publication, in this day-and-age, I might be the current face of the publication, but we are ALL TROT Magazine - Chris, Darryl, Sue, myself, and you. And that’s the way it should be.
Dan Fisher [email protected]