McKean In The Hunt At 'Oscars Of Magazine World'

Working on deadlines isn't always for the weak-hearted. Digging into stories that you're passionate about can make those weird off the clock hours more tempting. One local writer and editor for a national magazine is headed to New York to reap some of the benefits of his hard work.

Andrew McKean, editor-in-chief for Outdoor Life, has made his job work while staying in Glasgow. McKean came to Glasgow to work for Fish, Wildlife and Parks and fell in love with the area. He explained that he freelanced for magazines while working here. When a staff position opened up at Outdoor Life took it. He worked as the hunting editor for three or four years when the opportunity to replace the editor-in-chief position came up.

He said he'd only take the position if he could stay in Glasgow, as they wanted him to move to New York. It was supposed to be a trial for the first six months, but that's now gone on for around five years. He's made it work and even with his very busy work schedule he said that every month there's something interesting and fun.

McKean will make his way to New York City on Feb. 2 to the American Society of Magazine Editors National Magazine Awards this year. In 24 different categories they were able to gain a nomination, with four other magazines in leisure interests.

"It's like the Oscars of the magazine world," McKean said. "This is only the third time we've been nominated."

The 117-year-old magazine submitted their best how-to skills package last April. McKean said that the outdoor feature was roughly 12-14 pages that had 60 outdoor hacks to manipulate gear and help people how to be a better outdoorsman. Glasgow has a tie to the article, as a photo of duck that came from a local freezer made its way into the magazine.

"One tip was a step-by-step on how to pluck a duck with paraffin wax," McKean said.

He was looking for a duck and convinced local Tod Young to overnight a duck in his freezer for the photo. The overall design and promise made of the magazine and the article was judged. They looked at the whole package.

They are up against Sunset Magazine, Backpackers Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine and Runner's World.

You can congratulate McKean on Friday, Feb. 13 at Sean Heavey's grand opening. He will have a book signing for a book that was just released around Christmas. The book, "How to Hunt Everything," will be there at the event.