Editor’s Letter: Celebrating 30 Years of ‘Hour Detroit’

This month, Hour Detroit is celebrating its 30th birthday. And while 30 isn’t old in people years, in an industry in which many publications don’t last a decade, it’s a milestone worth celebrating.

Over 350 issues, we’ve told a lot of stories. So instead of trying to sum them up in words — in an issue already packed with great content, including a feature on Jeff Daniels and our Summer Events Preview — we’re telling the story visually: 350 covers, plus reflections from some of the metro Detroiters featured on them.

We’ve come a long way since publishers John Balardo and Thomas Hartle, editor Veronica Pasfield, copy editor George Bulanda, and designers Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis produced those first few issues — without an office for the staff.

“We had other full-time jobs,” Bulanda said in our 10th-anniversary issue. “Stories were delivered to my house. We’d drop off magazines in coffeehouses and bars. A lot of naysayers said this magazine was not going to last. But we all believed in this product.”

That belief still drives us. Today, Hour Media is a multimedia company publishing dozens of titles in seven states. We’ve grown from having no office to operating our headquarters out of our own building in Troy. But our mission hasn’t changed: to celebrate Detroit and the people who make it great.

“Hour Detroit has remained relevant because it continues to tell the stories of the city in a way that feels authentic and connected,” said chef Quiana “Que” Broden when we asked our cover subjects why they think Hour has endured.

We couldn’t do any of this without our staff and the hundreds of contributing writers, photographers, and stylists we’ve worked with over the years. When I asked Jim McFarlin, one of our most veteran contributors, to share his memories, he said, “I have been honored over the decades to pen cover stories for everyone from Dave Bing and Dan Campbell to Martha Reeves and Kid Rock. Detroit needs and deserves a publication like Hour Detroit — one that showcases our brighter side and all the things that make the Motor City special, all presented in glossy artistry.”

And finally, I’d like to thank you, our readers. Your support, feedback, and passion are why we do this.

Here’s to 30 more years!