Editor's Letter: Connecting the dots

written by: Mary Brown Malouf

When Edward Lorenz coined the phrase “butterfly effect” in 1963, he was referring to specific weather mathematical models—now the term is a general metaphor for how small factors can have huge ripple effects far from the original event.

Like, driving your gas-powered car can help hasten the disappearance of Fiji. (Read about the closer consequences of air pollution in “Bad Air,” p. 72)

It’s all connected, as Carl Sagan told us. (So, “make me one with everything,” as the Buddhist said to the hot dog vendor. And check out a comparison of some of the best local dogs in our Dining Guide.)

We’re connected to each other in the present and the present is connected to our past. Bewildered by Utah’s strange liquor laws? Take a brief look at the history of spirits in the Beehive on p. 66 and you’ll find it’s the same as it ever was.

Salt Lake magazine’s purpose is to connect. We write about all aspects of living in Utah so that avid skiers (“Seven Resorts,” p. 80) can understand the world of dedicated diners (Dining Guide, p. 123) and local artists can meet local activists in our pages. It’s all your culture, even if you only live in a slice of it.

This train of thought occurred to me last fall when I was in Nepal. Visiting a friend, Pasang Sherpa, in Kathmandu, I spied a copy of Salt Lake magazine on a table. It was like unexpectedly encountering an old friend and it made me wonder, how could the goings-on in a small city in the American desert be interesting to citizens of a mountainous country on the other side of the world? Then I thought, because it’s all one world, that’s why.

Keep in touch.

Cover Photo by: Lee Cohen Courtesy of Alta Resort

See more inside our 2018 Jan/Feb Issue.

Mary Brown Malouf
Mary Brown Maloufhttps://www.saltlakemagazine.com/
Mary Brown Malouf is the late Executive Editor of Salt Lake magazine and Utah's expert on local food and dining. She still does not, however, know how to make a decent cup of coffee.

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