Magazine Nabobs Resolve in 2008 to Kick Bad Habits: Waverly Inn, Post

Each New Year brings with it the obligatory slate of resolutions. And like some college-level sociological experiment, each New Year also brings with it a slate of stories about what famous people have resolved to either quit—smoking, say—or begin—usually something kind of boring, like marathon training or French classes. True to form, WWD recently called some executives in the magazine world to ask them what they hope to accomplish, respectively, in 2008.

Vanity Fair honcho Graydon Carter, who also happens to own a restaurant famous for its tony, truffled mac ‘n’ cheese, is working towards “less food, more exercise.” Meanwhile, Mr. Carter’s publisher, Edward Menicheschi, wants more-or-less the same thing, though he was slightly more specific, aiming to “cut back to four nights a week at the Waverly.”

Food & Wine editor Dana Cowin, too, means to get lean; she’d like “to kick my pork butt addiction and move on to healthier foods like eco-friendly farmed striped bass.” Susan Schultz, of Cosmogirl is going to attempt a regimen of Pilates and two home-cooked meals a month. Likewise, Men’s Journal E.I.C. Brad Wieners is shooting towards actually doing the workouts his magazine suggests for readers.

Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Amy Astley would like to raise her literary intake by quitting US Weekly and the Post “and read more books.” Interestingly, her publisher, Gina Sanders, also has a likeminded goal: to read The Iliad. (She’d also like to master a killer piecrust and surfing.)

In the end, though, a few respondents with, shall we say, more realistic outlooks did join the fray. O at Home editor Sarah Gray Miller admitted: “I’ve collected enough unused gym memberships to realize that I never keep resolutions.” And Barbara Fairchild, editor of Bon Appétit, told the fashion rag that she can’t ever seem to shake those 15 pounds she always resolves to lose.

Memo Pad: That Time of the Year… [WWD]