AN ESSENTIAL RECORD

When Forest & Bluff debuted 25 years ago, Art Miller, Librarian for Special Collections at Lake Forest College, began adding them to the archives. Miller, who went on to contribute to the magazine, recalls what the new local publication meant to the community at that time.

When Forest & Bluff debuted in 2001 it was a welcome addition to the community. With an early focus on the social scene, over the years it has featured a series of prestigious local figures, spectacular architectural landmarks, and lush fashion spreads that previewed trends of the day.

Lake Forest author, architectural historian, and emeritus archivist and librarian for Special Collections at Lake Forest College Art Miller was one of its first fans.

“I was saving those issues through my time at Lake Forest College, believing them to be a valuable record for the future of people, culture, commerce, philanthropy, and even the real estate … the character of our town,” says Miller, who would later contribute pieces about local history to both Forest & Bluff and its sister JWC Media publication, Sheridan Road.

While he retired from his Lake Forest College position in 2013, his high opinion continues.

“The news desert is much worse than in 2001, and Forest & Bluff is a record of who, what, and why locally in the first quarter of the 21st century. It’s not political but social and cultural, the way we all live. Its photography is always great—an essential record!”

Miller, a two-time president of the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation, credits the magazine for its role in helping to tell the stories of the community’s historic treasures, noting all the restoration triumphs over the last 25 years. Among some of Miller’s favorite stories might be the one he wrote in the January 2012 issue about a 1930s David Adler estate, which was acquired and restored by legendary Lake Forest architect Adrian Smith.

“[The magazine] also featured the 1931 modernist house at 1301 Knollwood Circle and an Art deco masterpiece owned by Bruce Grieve, who then served as chairman of the Lake Forest Historic Preservation Commission—paying that rehab aesthetic forward,” he says.

Does he have an all-time favorite cover story? The answer was a resounding “I do!”

In addition to noting the “100th issue” in November 2009 and its profile of Illinois Senator Susan Garrett, it’s the Remembering Ruth Winter feature from February 2010 that stands out above them all. From the 1950s through the 20th century, he says Winter “linked town and gown” between Lake Forest College and her peers—as portrayed in To the Manor Born, a 1979 picture essay book by Mary Lloyd Estrin that is part of a new History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff display for the Lake Forest Preservation Foundation.

“Forest & Bluff has helped tremendously to keep Lake Forest from changing beyond recognition,” says Miller. “To celebrate a quarter century of publication is no small feat in our era of here-today, gone-tomorrow online material. Thanks for it all.”