Bermuda stars in respected luxury magazine

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4: The tastes, culture, traditions and personalities of Bermuda have been featured in a ten-page travel article in a respected luxury lifestyle magazine in the US.

The quirky article appears in the June/July edition of the South Carolina-based glossy bimonthly Garden and Gun.

The main article is written by American novelist Padgett Powell who was nominated for the American Book Award, and photos are by Peter Frank Edwards whose clients include Oprah Magazine and the New York Times.

Brimstone Media’s Rosemary Jones accompanied the pair during their visit to the island and wrote an overview and profiles to accompany the piece.

Under the headline Paradise Proper, the colourfully illustrated feature takes a unique perspective on the island with the subhead declaring: “On an island of civility: spacious shorts, good roux, and a close encounter with Darth Vader” (the friendly rock fish at the aquarium).

There is a section on where to eat and drink, what to see and do, where to shop as well as a special focus on four key Bermuda residents who are “keeping the Bermudas beautiful”.

The much-loved fish sandwich from Art Mel’s Spicy Dicy café on St Monica’s Road has a full page picture dedicated to it as well as a passage saying: “A person should not eat one entire in a sitting, but he probably will.”

Another full picture page is dedicated to Chewstick Foundation founder Gavin Smith who is pictured sitting on the side walk holding his guitar with the headquarter’s colourful mural behind him.

He is quoted saying of the performance arts charity: “The central tenet is simple: Speak your mind, Anything goes and anyone is welcome.”

There are separate articles on “fearless filmmaker Choy Aming who helps to head up the Bermuda shark tagging project with Neil Burnie; “island voice” Nadia Aguiar, author of two fantasy novels; and “culture keeper” Edward Harris, executive director of the National Museum of Bermuda.

Nicknamed the Soul of the South, Garden and Gun has a paid and verified ABC circulation of around 210,000 per issue throughout the US. It is aimed at an affluent audience of active men and women with a strong connection and passion for all things Southern.

In its own words: “Garden and Gun is an idea about how to live — how to live a life that is more engaged with the land, the literature, the music, the arts, the traditions, the food, and the authenticity that has shaped the Southern way of life.”

The feature is now online at: http://gardenandgun.com/article/bermuda-paradise-proper