elusive photos and article

April 21, 2008 2:11 PM

Where can I find an article from 1971 Life magazine? (if it exists)

In my research, I've found that Life magazine was hanging around Lawrence, KS taking photos of a major drug bust done by Vern Miller on Feb. 26 1971. The fact that there was a photographer from Life was mentioned in pretty much every single article abotu this event that I have read. However, when I went to look at March 1971 Life magazines, neither the photos nor an article about the topic were to be found.

I don't know if there are several Life magazines or if this article was never published or what, but if anyone has any leads, I would appreciate it.

posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel to education (8 comments total)

Not sure if this would help, but a lot of magazines publish their March issue in early February or even earlier. Maybe try looking at later issues of Life? If you are having trouble actually finding the magazines, are there any old bookstores in your town? Many of them have stocks of old magazines that people like to buy as gifts for nostalgia..."Here is a magazine from the month you were born" kind of thing.
Good luck.
posted by smithygreg at 3:02 PM on April 21, 2008

Could it have been this "Sister Fuzz" article here?
posted by DarkForest at 3:21 PM on April 21, 2008

DarkForest - I don't think so because I looked through that entire issue and saw nothing directly related to my topic. That's a cool site, though.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 3:25 PM on April 21, 2008

Have you tried a periodical index for that year at a local college/university library?
posted by cinemafiend at 4:52 PM on April 21, 2008

Looks like you're in Lawrence - if you're affiliated with KU, their library subscribes to Readers Guide Retrospective, which indexes lots of stuff, including Life Magazine up through 1972, and you can search it online from their databases page. I just tried a few searches, however, using 1971-1972, and Life Magazine as limits, and got nothing for "miller", "vern miller" "lawrence" or "kansas" that appears to resemble a drug bust.
posted by donnagirl at 8:02 PM on April 21, 2008

I've tried talking to librarians at my university's library and they were stumped. I was hoping that the hive mind might come up with some insider info or something.
posted by mustcatchmooseandsquirrel at 8:07 PM on April 21, 2008

I have the subject matter indexes to all LIFE magazines published 1942 through the final weekly issue in 1972. I'll check for you and get back to you either here or via email.

Yes, I am a dealer in back issue publications, specializing in LIFE magazine.
posted by X4ster at 9:30 PM on April 21, 2008

My mistake. I'm sorry to say that the contents indexes I have cover the years 1942-1969 only and I don't have the 70-72 indexes. I'll check the contents pages of the Feb - April 1971 LIFE mags I have and see if I can find your article. I don't have a copy of the 4/16 LIFE with Paul McCartney and Linda on the cover in inventory at this time but will check the others. It is possible that LIFE covered the bust you mentioned but may not have published a story about it.
posted by X4ster at 10:03 PM on April 21, 2008