You may notice something odd about this column. You may notice something even more strange about this issue. John Prusak, the Snow Goer editor of 30-plus years, is no longer with the magazine.
Don’t worry, he’s not gone to the great beyond — he hasn’t even left the world of snowmobiling. After a long career on the consumer side of powersports, he’s decided to see it from a new angle: He’s now the marketing communications manager for the revived Arctic Cat.
Before you say, “Ha! I knew it! He was always a Cat guy!” let me tell you that you’re wrong. And deep down, you know you’re wrong. Prusak worked dang hard to give everyone a fair shake and, when he had to, call a spade a spade. Other than an early-career bookend at a small-town newspaper and now the other bookend as a PR megaphone, he’s devoted his entire career to the benefit of the average snowmobiler. He’s always liked a good underdog story, so helping Arctic Cat get its purr back seems a fitting transition.
I met Prusak in the mid-1990s when I answered a want-ad for a copy editor at “an outdoors magazine.” I liked the outdoors, but when I wandered to the library and looked up Ehlert Publishing Group, I was surprised to learn it was a publisher dedicated to powersports and hunting. I got the interview and got the job, with Prusak as my boss.
It was a heady time for the magazine and powersports industries. Not only did EPG have four individual snowmobile publications, there were three other snowmobile magazine publishers in just Minnesota. Competition was friendly on the surface but fiendish underneath, and the industry had more traction than all of the stud manufacturers combined.
I knew nothing about snowmobiles, but I kind of knew where to put a comma. I also knew how to ask questions, stay curious and spin a tale. Prusak often told me that he hired a copy editor but really got a writer, and it was true. I started to get story assignments and began to fall in love with the outdoors in a new way. Under Prusak’s tutelage, I grew as a writer, as an editor and as an advocate for snowmobiling and snowmobilers. Now I’m channeling my inner Prusak as guest editor for the next few issues as EPG searches for the next person to fill the role.
Snowmobiling became a winter sport that I truly love, but more importantly, I developed a sincere appreciation for people who snowmobile. They fully embrace a season that most people dislike; they’re creative problem-solvers; they volunteer countless hours in service of our incredible trail systems; and they’re a blast. I contend that if I’m ever in some sort of emergency, I want a snowmobiler to stop and help me — first, because a snowmobiler will actually stop and second, they’ll figure out a solution no matter the situation.
Times have changed and so haves the powersports and publishing industries. Prusak has been a steady voice and influence through it all. He will be greatly missed from this side of the desk. I also hope that we have not seen the last of his writing. The classic snowmobile racing history book, Warriors of Winter, is well overdue for a follow-up volume, and I nominate Prusak to write it. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I can help him with the commas.