EVER MOVIN’ FORWARD: REMEMBERING JEFF LAWRENCE & THE BEST LITTLE PAPER IN BOSTON When I got the call that founding publisher of Boston’s Weekly Dig/DigBoston Jeff Lawrence had left us last week at the tender age of 54, it tore me to shreds. For the past 12 years since I left The Dig, I haven't really looked back. I have no words, or maybe not as much as I thought, but I think I owe Jeff, the city of Boston, and perhaps myself some explanation of who the guy was in retrospect- what he created and how it changed alternative media, not to mention who he brought together, and the opportunities that he gave young writers and others venturing into the Boston media market. The paper was fueled by news, arts, music, culture, event listings, and a brand of humor not always for the faint of heart. In those early days when Boston's Weekly Dig was rearing its head, he was my boss, a good friend, and at times a confidant. Jeff acted as mentor to me as I became immersed in Boston’s publishing and journalism community. Looking back, there was no other publication that was going to give me any opportunity like he did. ORIGINS While the idea to start a publication was percolating in Jeff's mind in the latter part of the 90s, it occurred to him that The Boston Phoenix which was at the helm of alternative Boston media at the time, had no competitor. This is during
an era where the internet was starting to thrive, speculating the future of print. It was a completely new frontier for journalism and publishing and many were hesitant…not Jeff. He had been putting out a little paper called Shovel, which was preliminary to what The Weekly Dig manifested into. It occurred to him that he could sell advertisements in print, be a force in sponsoring events, and take on just about anything that The Phoenix wasn't. He had a good mind when it came to competition. Jeff decided to make the paper free since advertisement would take care of its production and eventually its profits. This eventually took The Phoenix for quite a ride and there was a bitter rivalry over the years, mostly playful but at times nasty.
— CRAIG TERLINO
I reached out to the editor of the paper at the time explaining I was very close to sitting down and speaking with the late great Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. I had just come from the South Shore of Boston, where I was working as the front page editor at a monthly newspaper called the Hingham Times. In no time, however, I was canned because of the belligerent nature of my writing and the eccentric stories that I chose to put on their front page.
Fast forward a couple months, making my way into the oppressively hot Dig loft in Chinatown late at night to secretly fax Hunter S. Thompson. It was Jeff who received the fax reply from my literary hero. I was ecstatic. “Is he going to give me the interview?” I asked. To perhaps make light of the rivalry, Jeff “Are you sitting down?” He continued… Lawrence challenged The Boston Phoenix publisher Steven Mendich (in his ”He told you to ‘Fuck Off! You write like 70s at the time) to a road race and of a bull fruit whore with a SHOVEL up her course Steven didn't show up for it, but ass.’ He says ‘Good Luck In Sicily!’” Jeff ran the 2k anyhow… in a full on chicken costume. This infuriated a lot of In disbelief, I asked, “bull fruit what? the people who were working for The Sicily?” I rushed down to the office, and Boston Phoenix at the time. They looked it was legit. My fax was returned with at us and many probably still do as a big black marks and big boorish bunch of infidels running wild in the comments. journalism community in Boston. There was some truth to it…but what of it? Jeff brought promise to such a humiliating moment, “Don't let it get to FEAR AND LOATHING IN BEANTOWN you, Captain. Not for nothing, but he I moved to Boston mid-2000 and actually took the moment to correspond immediately came across The Weekly with you, so you must have given him Dig, as I was trying to find an outlet for some kind of rise.” my writing, I reached out to the editor of
BLOOD, SWEAT, AND GEARS Jeff gave me a job but he also gave me a van, a testament to the freedom and independence I was given. I drove it and looked over it proudly like Montgomery Scott to the USS Enterprise. My job was to drive the company van around, deliver the paper, but there was a more important factor to that job. Each issue needed to be placed strategically on the street and in certain businesses. Each issue paved way for the next. I applied a marketing aesthetic to putting the paper out rather than being some sort of glorified newsboy. I knew that if we just dumped papers wherever, the readership would suffer. On the streets, although our readers were excited to see the van pull up with a new issue, I wasn't a hit with the Boston police since it took me a few years to understand that there's no turn on red in Boston and everywhere I decided to park was illegal. continued on p. 2
PAGE LAYOUTS: Yasmin Hamilton: p. 1, 4, 5 Abigail Lincks: p. 2, 3 Adrian Alvarez: p. 6, 8 Kelsey Deemer: p. 7