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IDid anyone else receive an emergency mailing from Arizona Highways magazine? An article in the October 2013 edition incorrectly identified the toxic Fly Agaric mushroom as being edible. I noticed the error right away, but then decided that I must have misread it. If I ran a magazine, I would probably never identify anything as edible that didn't come from a grocery store or restaurant. Even some of that is questionable.

They actually pulled all copies of that issue off the shelves because of it. Obviously the subscriber circulation was a different story.

big_load wrote:IDid anyone else receive an emergency mailing from Arizona Highways magazine? An article in the October 2013 edition incorrectly identified the toxic Fly Agaric mushroom as being edible. I noticed the error right away, but then decided that I must have misread it. If I ran a magazine, I would probably never identify anything as edible that didn't come from a grocery store or restaurant. Even some of that is questionable.

Yep. Got a postcard in the mail notifying me that they had made a mistake. I have already thrown that issue in the recycling - I don't want it staying in existence.

Refer to the book, Mushrooms and Truffles of the Southwest by States.

@big_load
They stated in an Official Statement that they were sending out a notice to all Subscribers...But that doesn't help anyone that purchased one from a store before they were all pulled....

I hope people will still support the magazine. It has struggled a lot in recent years. I wonder if heads will roll due to this error? Somehow I would think so...

It's a good magazine; not to worry

It has always been a favorite of mine. I always thought someday I might get an article published in it. But haven't even tried yet... Just lazy I guess...

azbackpackr wrote:I hope people will still support the magazine. It has struggled a lot in recent years. I wonder if heads will roll due to this error? Somehow I would think so...

I'm always happy to see it in my mailbox, so I hope it survives the digital media juggernaut. I expect the author will face some discipline, and the next edition will surely have a big retraction and editorial comment.

Unfortunately, its heyday is long since and has been struggling for the last few years.

mazatzal wrote:Unfortunately, its heyday is long since and has been struggling for the last few years.

Part of the reason for that is that it is paid for by the Arizona State Legislature. Unlike New Mexico Magazine, Arizona Highways does not sell ads, at least not to the extent a commercial magazine does. And the Legislature has been close to de-funding it more than once.

Of course, a lot of people have stopped subscribing to magazines. Personally, I like having it on my coffee table, although I am not a subscriber at the moment. A digital magazine is not better, to my mind. I don't look at them, and probably never will take the time to do so.

We used to subscribe to it, but considering we have boxes of them going back to the 30's and 40's we were starting to get deep in them.
We have quite a few duplicate issues that would be the epic Native art issues of the 70's and 80's, we also use them for reference and if a piece is featured in it, that's a great sales tool.
I mostly like the older ones that show the growth in AZ. I haven't dug through the boxes now in 11 years, but one of the ones I have marked has an interesting tidbit. There's an old photo of the White House ruins in Canyon De Chelly and on the cliff wall as prominent as the human figure is a swastika. The Navajo had that symbol (nohoco aka Whirling Logs) extensively in their culture until the late 30's.
Maybe I should dig that issue up.

Aminita Muscaria mushrooms (Fly Agaric) are edible if prepared properly. Several cultures eat them on a regular basis. The toxins are water soluble. http://www.mushroomhunter.net/articles/ ... ethods.pdf