While I sincerely appreicate the post, please read the below post I made today on our forum
<begin post>
I had a long phone conversation with Steve Shackleford today. He is the editor of Blade magazine. Actually all of this came about from a manufacturer suggesting I pursue writing for Blade. (don't ask which one). Anway, Steve and I had a nice chat and he is willing to run my articles in Blade magazine. I will already be working on the first article during this upcoming jungle trip. Now, I'm new to Blade and I'm not sure about their scheduling and other related publishing issues are, so I'm not sure what their time frame is on publishing. I will say I really liked Steve and what he told me on how he runs a magazine. Much more "laid back" and not quite as nervous as what I've been use to. I think he and I are going to hit it off great. Another thing, I told Steve that I wanted to gradually creep into this and not write as heavily as I have been for TK for the time being. I also want to stay more focused on the type blades that are our specialty. I'm looking forward to it and I now have renewed spirit when it comes to writing. I was getting stale with TK, so maybe the unexpected move was a good thing for everyone.
Now, on to the other issue. I also had a long chat today with Shirley at Tactical Knives. Very nice lady. The reason for my call was to find out what Steve Dick planned to use of the articles I already had submitted so I could begin the process of getting any un-used stuff back for other publications. Anyway, we didn't talk too much about what had happened but I wanted her to know directly that I had no hard feelings towards TK or New York. I also told her that I would do anything I could to help the magazine continue to be a success - everything except writing for Steve Dick. The reason I'm bringing this up here is I want to ask a favor of everyone on the forums. That favor is for all of you to continue to subscribe to TK if you like the magazine, and for all those that advertise....keep it up. It's a damn good magazine and I do NOT want a pissing contest between Steve Dick and I to change anything with anyone else. I'm serious about that guys. I know I plan to continue my support through subscritption and advertising.
Shirley and I ended our conversation on a very good note, and maybe someday when some small changes are made I will once again write for them. If they want me to.
Keep the faith amigos!
<end post>
I was very upset with the way Steve treated me about the thread on BladeForums, and since my first concern has ALWAYS been to the readership I felt it was their right to know that I was basically being "controlled" on what I could even say when it didn't even concern Steve Dick or TK. I viewed is as a threat from Steve plain and simple, and as I told him, no one ever threatens me. This was my reason for taking this threat of "New York seeing the thread and letting me go" straight to New York. I don't like clouds hanging over me. If you're going to threaten then you best go ahead and make good on it because the next move is mine regardless.
I offer no apologies for making what Steve Dick did public. With that said, I'm not one to hold a grudge. Steve can get on with his editing anyway he wishes and I plan to get on with my life. I will still bump into Steve at trade shows and I know both of us will be cordial. All I'm asking is for folks to continue to read, subscribe, advertise, or do whatever they did with TK before this happened. Even though Steve is an employee of TK, it was not the magazine in my opinion that caused all of this. Steve made a bad policy decision for TK in my opinion. I doubt it will happen again and I highly suspect things will smooth over drastically from the editing department. That's a good thing. The folks in New York have always treated me very good. The bottom line to all of this is I am finished writing for Steven Dick, and until I had the pleasant phone conversation with Mr. Shackleford today, I was just going to back off from writing for a while. I like what I heard from Steve Shackleford. I like his open minded attitudes, and he struck me to be a real honorable man. I think I can bring something to Blade that will be an asset to the magazine, and if I can't I think their editor will be straight-forward with me and tell me. Instead of me having to guess. Now, before this paragraph gets twisted and out of hand. Blade did not approach me about writing. This came about when a manufacturer called me last night and suggested I go to Blade. So don't anyone here blame Steve Shackleford or imply he "stole" me from Tactical Knives. I have met Steve twice before our conversation today. He has always been very nice, a gentleman, and complimentary of my work in TK, but he has never asked me to write for him because that would not be professional. I thank him for that.
Bottom line guys is a enjoy writing, especially when it's articles that concern everyday working knives and using them in various environments. So, I will continue to read and support all publications because it's a passionate hobby of mine. Let's put all of this behind us and go forward. I will say this before I close this long post: At this point in the game, I will not respond to anyone who wishes to elevate this posting into anything than what it reads here. If someone doesn't like what I have posted...well...I'm not going to fight about it. I'm argued out. Besides I have to leave for Peru on Thursday and will not have time to defend myself after that
Look for some jungle blade work in Blade Magazine in a future issue.
Again thanks for the support.
Jeff
<begin post>
I had a long phone conversation with Steve Shackleford today. He is the editor of Blade magazine. Actually all of this came about from a manufacturer suggesting I pursue writing for Blade. (don't ask which one). Anway, Steve and I had a nice chat and he is willing to run my articles in Blade magazine. I will already be working on the first article during this upcoming jungle trip. Now, I'm new to Blade and I'm not sure about their scheduling and other related publishing issues are, so I'm not sure what their time frame is on publishing. I will say I really liked Steve and what he told me on how he runs a magazine. Much more "laid back" and not quite as nervous as what I've been use to. I think he and I are going to hit it off great. Another thing, I told Steve that I wanted to gradually creep into this and not write as heavily as I have been for TK for the time being. I also want to stay more focused on the type blades that are our specialty. I'm looking forward to it and I now have renewed spirit when it comes to writing. I was getting stale with TK, so maybe the unexpected move was a good thing for everyone.
Now, on to the other issue. I also had a long chat today with Shirley at Tactical Knives. Very nice lady. The reason for my call was to find out what Steve Dick planned to use of the articles I already had submitted so I could begin the process of getting any un-used stuff back for other publications. Anyway, we didn't talk too much about what had happened but I wanted her to know directly that I had no hard feelings towards TK or New York. I also told her that I would do anything I could to help the magazine continue to be a success - everything except writing for Steve Dick. The reason I'm bringing this up here is I want to ask a favor of everyone on the forums. That favor is for all of you to continue to subscribe to TK if you like the magazine, and for all those that advertise....keep it up. It's a damn good magazine and I do NOT want a pissing contest between Steve Dick and I to change anything with anyone else. I'm serious about that guys. I know I plan to continue my support through subscritption and advertising.
Shirley and I ended our conversation on a very good note, and maybe someday when some small changes are made I will once again write for them. If they want me to.
Keep the faith amigos!
<end post>
I was very upset with the way Steve treated me about the thread on BladeForums, and since my first concern has ALWAYS been to the readership I felt it was their right to know that I was basically being "controlled" on what I could even say when it didn't even concern Steve Dick or TK. I viewed is as a threat from Steve plain and simple, and as I told him, no one ever threatens me. This was my reason for taking this threat of "New York seeing the thread and letting me go" straight to New York. I don't like clouds hanging over me. If you're going to threaten then you best go ahead and make good on it because the next move is mine regardless.
I offer no apologies for making what Steve Dick did public. With that said, I'm not one to hold a grudge. Steve can get on with his editing anyway he wishes and I plan to get on with my life. I will still bump into Steve at trade shows and I know both of us will be cordial. All I'm asking is for folks to continue to read, subscribe, advertise, or do whatever they did with TK before this happened. Even though Steve is an employee of TK, it was not the magazine in my opinion that caused all of this. Steve made a bad policy decision for TK in my opinion. I doubt it will happen again and I highly suspect things will smooth over drastically from the editing department. That's a good thing. The folks in New York have always treated me very good. The bottom line to all of this is I am finished writing for Steven Dick, and until I had the pleasant phone conversation with Mr. Shackleford today, I was just going to back off from writing for a while. I like what I heard from Steve Shackleford. I like his open minded attitudes, and he struck me to be a real honorable man. I think I can bring something to Blade that will be an asset to the magazine, and if I can't I think their editor will be straight-forward with me and tell me. Instead of me having to guess. Now, before this paragraph gets twisted and out of hand. Blade did not approach me about writing. This came about when a manufacturer called me last night and suggested I go to Blade. So don't anyone here blame Steve Shackleford or imply he "stole" me from Tactical Knives. I have met Steve twice before our conversation today. He has always been very nice, a gentleman, and complimentary of my work in TK, but he has never asked me to write for him because that would not be professional. I thank him for that.
Bottom line guys is a enjoy writing, especially when it's articles that concern everyday working knives and using them in various environments. So, I will continue to read and support all publications because it's a passionate hobby of mine. Let's put all of this behind us and go forward. I will say this before I close this long post: At this point in the game, I will not respond to anyone who wishes to elevate this posting into anything than what it reads here. If someone doesn't like what I have posted...well...I'm not going to fight about it. I'm argued out. Besides I have to leave for Peru on Thursday and will not have time to defend myself after that
Look for some jungle blade work in Blade Magazine in a future issue.Again thanks for the support.
Jeff
). I just wanted to say that while it took forever, I learned a helluva lot about people in general and the knife world. I came away with a deeper respect for Mr. Randall and I wish him luck in the future. I've been a TK subscriber since '96 and just recently started a Blade subscription so I'm glad to hear that I will still be able to read his articles. Mr. Randall--I think you got shafted big time, but I'm glad to see that it hasn't gotten you down. I only wish I could take that kind of punishment and keep smiling...
)