Michael Fox, acknowleged industry postal expert, retiring from Rogers Publishing

The Canadian magazine industry has long relied on Michael Fox as its primary expert when it came to understanding the vagaries and the economics of Canada Post. Fox, who has long worked in circulation  at Rogers Publishing and, before that, at Maclean Hunter, and is now senior vice-president, circulation, is retiring at the end of this month. He first joined Maclean Hunter in 1974 as an editor working for the old Financial Post, which he was later instrumental in taking it from a weekly to a daily after moving over into circulation.

He won't be leaving the magazine business, mind you: he will be moving permanently to his home in Niagara-on-the-Lake and continuing to work with his wife Beckie and his daughter Katherine on building the magazine Garden Making, which they launched in 2010. (It tells you a lot about Fox that his idea of a good time after finding and keeping audiences for Rogers magazines has been to do exactly the same thing in his spare time, only for his own magazine.) He is also to continue working for Rogers on a couple of projects. His retirement was announced in a memo to staff from president Ken Whyte, who said, in part:

Perhaps Michael’s most important contribution to Rogers Publishing in recent years has been his active involvement in government relations and the relationship he has built directly with Canada Post. He has been extremely influential in championing our interests day-to-day and in crisis situations.

Over the years, Fox has chaired and served on a great many industry committees at Magazines Canada and elsewhere. Magazines Canada named him volunteer of the year in 2005 and CMC Circulation Management Association made him Magazine Marketer of the Year in 2002. He is honorary lifetime member of the Canadian Direct Marketing Association and has been on the Magazine Directors Advisory Committee at the Audit Bureau of Circulations.