Editor’s Blog

“Cool” Is Coming!

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We just wrapped up our March issue, our first-ever “Cool” issue. We weren’t sure how it would come together. “Cool” is a subjective word, after all, and who are we to say what’s cool to the majority of Phoenicians? Well, after all was said and done (and written and photographed and designed and edited and re-edited and proofed and criticized and fought for), we came up with what we think is one of our best issues yet.

In addition to the actual “Cool” list – 41 different people, places and things that make you say, “wow, that’s cool” – we have two really cool features you’ll want to check out. The first is about exotic pet owners in the Valley. We were shocked by the number of people trying to smuggle alligators into the state or take care of boas that were clearly too much to handle. The kicker was the woman who took her pet mountain lion for a walk. Way to be subtle, lady.

The other story is perhaps the best story we’ve ever run (in terms of lighter features). It’s called “On the Prowl,” and it’s about the elusive Scottsdale “cougar.” It’s a very tongue-and-cheek feature that follows a night in the life of a cougar – an older, wealthier, divorced woman with a few plastic surgeries under her belt who chooses younger men for her sexual romps. David Leibowitz wrote this one…the same writer who profiled the Phoenix porn peddler David Hans Schmidt last October (Schmidt took his own life days after the story was published). Leibowitz has asked why he seems to get the seedier story ideas, but once you read this piece, you’ll know that no one else could have done it justice. The writing is amazing, and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.