El Sol de la Costa Changes Hands
Mexico and Canada became a bit closer in January when Driftwood Publishing, Ltd. of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia bought the Sol de la Costa from the British publisher, Warren Sharpe. Warren, with whom I had the pleasure to work as editorial assistant, was the voice of bilingual journalism in Puerto Escondido for 13 years. When the first issue of what was then called the Puerto Escondido Sun came out in November 2007, it had only 12 pages; Puerto was a lot smaller too.
Under Warren’s stewardship, the Sol de la Costa defined the Puerto experience for a wide swath of the tourist and expat community. Surfers checked its tides tables; visitors found restaurants, and everyone learned more about Mexico and Oaxaca. The magazine, like it’s publisher, was also highly idiosyncratic. It was a monthly that often skipped months, and when it did appear many of the activities announced on its calendar had already taken place. But that was part of the Puerto experience too.
Tony Richards, the new publisher, plans to keep a lot of the old format that made the magazine so popular: things to do and see in Puerto, recipes, Mexican customs, etc. But he brings a new level of professionalism to the job. In a recent interview, he assured us that the magazine would be published every month and that it would have new content. Local advertising has always been at the heart of the Sol de la Costa and will continue to be under Tony’s watch.
Besides publishing the weekly Gulf Island Driftwood, the family owned company also puts out an array of print publications focusing on real estate, lifestyles, and tourism as well as three websites. Tony retired from the day-to-day operations of Driftwood Publishing in 2004; he now lives full-time in Puerto and is committed to his latest project. Besides publishing magazines, Tony’s main interest is in making music - he is an accomplished keyboardist.
by Barbara Joan Schaffer
