Modern ferret love

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Dec 15, 2001 by Whitney Joiner

In its December/January issue, a gaggle of celebrities give New York lifestyle title Paper their "Reasons to be Cheerful." Besides learning about Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Glenda Bailey's love of fish, chips and high heels, readers are treated to Tama Janowitz's obsession with Modern Ferret.

"It's got everything," says Janowitz, the eighties' scenester novelist (Slaves of New York; A Certain Age) who owns four ferrets. "One time it had Tiffany Taylor, the Playboy model, posing with her ferrets. It's really my favorite magazine. Readers send in letters and pictures and it's got a homey feel. I save all the issues. They all have helpful hints--but more than that, it's just enthralling to read."

The bimonthly Modern Ferret--which won mm Magazine's "Best Specialty Magazine" award in 1999--launched in 1995. "We really wanted to do something different and not like the other pet magazines, which are kind of flat and boring," says Mary Shefferman, who edits and publishes the magazine with her husband, Eric. "So we set out to do something fun, because ferrets are fun. They're a very different kind of pet. They're so playful and fun and goofy. So we figure the magazine should reflect that personality."

That's why the Sheffermans' ferrets--Gabby, Thxie, Koosh and Cauliflower--currently "write" for Modern Ferret chiming in with everything from advice columns to ferret-supply reviews. And it explains the commissioning of the ferret-loving Janowitz to write the feature story ("Ferrets of New York") for the latest issue. (She's also the cover girl, along with her ferret Mole, in a photo taken by fashion designer Todd Oldham.)

"I still get so much pleasure out of [my ferrets]," says Janowitz. "They sleep most of the day, and then they get up and wrestle. They're like the World Wrestling Federation. One pins the other; one body slams the other. They're constantly entertaining. You pick them up and they lick you. They're always active when they're not passed out. But they're quite messy. They'll poop in any corner--they're just so happy."