Briar Index
Estimated total donations, 1973-2013: $1.039 million
Number of Facebook fans in Pakistan: 85
Number of years we’ve automatically renewed Noam Chomsky’s subscription to continue counting him among our subscribers: 7
Number of new Regina residents attributed to Briarpatch staff recruitment efforts: 6
Number of former editors who ended up in Mexico: 1.5
Times we’ve been sued: 2
Times we’ve been threatened with being sued: 21
Total federal grants received by Briarpatch between 2010 and 2012 to help publications “overcome market disadvantages”: $26,047
Total federal grants received by Glacier BIG Holdings Company Ltd. (publisher of Canadian Plastics, Oilweek, and the Canadian Mining Journal, among others) in the same period: $893,202
Number of issues published by our short-lived sister publication, The Sasquatch: 8
Estimated number of people who phoned The Sasquatch looking for an actual sasquatch: 5
Year that Briarpatch got its first computer: 1985
Number of times proofreader Kim Kovacs has saved our ass: ∞
Year in which she stopped us from inadvertently referring to Rick Hillier as the “pubic face of Canada’s military”: 2010
Year in which Briarpatch incorporated the Oxford comma into our style guide: 2012
Number of days required to conclude this debate among staff: 11
Cost of a subscription in 1973: $2
Number of pages in the first issue and the 40th anniversary issue, respectively: 4, 44
Number of issues cancelled for lack of funds in 40 years: 2
Number of times the magazine has been evicted: 1
Years since staff joined the Retail Wholesale & Department Store Union (RWDSU): 37
Percentage of subscribers who learned about Briarpatch through word of mouth: 23.5
Percentage of subscribers who can’t remember how they first heard about Briarpatch because it’s been too long: 26
Percentage of subscribers who never throw out their Briarpatch copies: 52
Estimated number of Briarpatch copies rotting in people’s basements, attics, and bathroom magazine racks: 62,400
Percentage of subscribers who have shaken their fists in silent fury after reading Briarpatch, according to our 2007 reader survey: 47
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2 Comments
Thanks for the trivia. I have another trivia question.
How many editors and names, have there been?
These very hard working, dedicated editors, plus staff and volunteers, got Briarpatch to the 40 year anniversary.
From Shirley Dixon in Regina, Sask. on May 9th, 2013 at 5:44pm
Good question, Shirley! I’d have to do some digging to give you a definitive answer. But you’re right — there are a whole lotta dedicated people who have come together to get us this far. Here’s to another 40!
From Valerie Zink on May 10th, 2013 at 11:08am