Zine Infection

I have been infecting my family with the zine bug! It started with my paternal grandmother and extended to my husband, Jeff. Making a zine with my grandmother (who prefers I call her “GI” for Grandma Iris) was special. GI decided to make her first zine about the things that make her feel happy: her family; her cat, Sadie, who is curious and joyful (sadly, she passed recently); her life partner, Harvey, who transitioned five years ago; her poetry group; and one of her favorite games, Bunco. She began the process with a brainstorm, focusing on what she appreciates about each person and/or activity. Then she created a mock-up of each page of her zine. For the zine itself, she folded two 8.5”x11” pieces of paper in half to create an 8-page booklet. We had so much fun spending time together and making her zine. For my birthday, she mailed me a Snoopy mini-zine that was super cute!

SNOOPY BIRTHDAY ZINE, BY IRIS MAAHS

I didn’t expect my husband to be interested in making zines until he announced that he, too, wanted to make them. His first zine, The Autobody, was about spirituality and consciousness, and his second, Dina’s Christmas Adventure, was based on a series of texts he sent to his grandchildren on Christmas.

THE AUTOBODY, BY JEFF MUNNIS

DINA’S CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE, BY JEFF MUNNIS