Tahoe man resurrects skateboarding-snowboarding magazine
By Chris Macias, Sacramento Bee
Just like the rockers who’ve regrouped to capture their glory days, the recent resurrection of Heckler magazine sounds something like this: Dudes, we’re getting the mag back together!
Heckler was one of Sacramento’s magazine success stories, a homegrown publication that chronicled skateboarding, snowboarding and music for an international readership. But as it goes with good times on a board or playing with a band, they rarely do last. Heckler wound down in 2002, with its staff splintering toward new projects and careers.
More than 20 years after its earnest but scrappy debut, Heckler is reborn. Heckler now takes on a distinctly 21st century feel, continuing as an online magazine with embedded video ads, story-sharing features for social media and other digital bells and whistles.
“We’re telling the story of skateboarding, snowboarding and music as seen through the eyes of Heckler,” said JP Lagos, Heckler’s publisher. “Competing with other publications isn’t what we’re trying to do. We’re just here to show the lifestyles we lead and the people we admire.”
Lagos, 34, embodies Heckler’s traditional go-with-the-flow attitude. He oversees the multimedia magazine from his North Lake Tahoe home, where no winter day is complete without a gnarly snowboard session, and he basically runs Heckler as a labor of love. Lagos covers his bills and his lift tickets as a Web designer and software developer.
