Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
George Magazine's May 2001 farewell issue is one of the most emotionally weighted final issues in American magazine publishing history. The magazine had been founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1995 and had published for nearly six years before his death in a plane crash in July 1999. Hachette Filipacchi attempted to continue the publication without him, but the creative and commercial logic of George had always rested heavily on Kennedy's identity and editorial vision. The May 2001 issue is the closing document of that experiment — a publication acknowledging that it cannot continue and choosing to go out with a retrospective that honors both its founding purpose and the man whose absence made continuation impossible. Editor-in-chief Frank Lalli's farewell note on page 128 makes the elegiac quality explicit. Kennedy's own voice appears in the "In Your Interest" section at page 7 — described as "John Kennedy's Promise to You" — a posthumous editorial presence that gives the final issue a quality of direct address from founder to reader across the boundary of his death. Collectors who track the complete arc of George Magazine issues will find this farewell issue the essential closing chapter of the publication's story.
The table of contents makes this issue documentarily extraordinary on multiple levels. The "Best of George, 1995–2001" retrospective — running from page 84 through page 108 — functions as a curated archive of the magazine's most significant editorial moments across all six volumes, including the October 1995 launch issue's Kennedy-Wallace conversation, the Monica Lewinsky coverage, the Naomi Wolf and Al Gore collaboration, and the final 2000–2001 material. This retrospective, assembled as the magazine closes, is the publication's own account of what it accomplished and what it meant. The "50 Most Powerful People in Politics Today" feature — with George W. Bush positioned neither first nor second in the rankings, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, and Tom DeLay all named — captures the political landscape of early 2001 with a specificity that gives the issue independent historical value as a document of Washington power at the precise moment of a new administration's arrival. For collectors building out a 2001 magazine archive, this farewell issue offers an unusually rich combination of contemporary political documentation and retrospective self-accounting from a publication that had genuinely mattered.
About the Publication
George Magazine launched in September 1995, co-founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. and Michael Berman and published by Hachette Filipacchi Media. It positioned itself at the intersection of politics and popular culture, combining celebrity cover subjects, long-form political interviews, cultural criticism, and feature journalism in a format that was genuinely novel for its moment. At its circulation peak it reached approximately one million readers. Kennedy served as founding editor until his death in July 1999. Hachette continued the publication for roughly eighteen months after his death before folding it with the May 2001 issue, leaving behind a complete run of approximately 53 issues across six volumes. The farewell issue constitutes the final entry in that archive.
Key Highlights Inside
- "In Your Interest: John Kennedy's Promise to You" by John Kennedy — a posthumous editorial presence from the founding editor in the magazine's final issue, framing the farewell within Kennedy's original vision for the publication.
- "Farewell" by editor-in-chief Frank Lalli — the closing statement from the magazine's final editor, explicitly marking the end of George's six-year run.
- "The Best of George, 1995–2001" — a year-by-year editorial retrospective spanning pages 84–108, covering the Kennedy-Wallace conversation, Monica Lewinsky, Naomi Wolf and Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, Linda Tripp, and other major editorial moments across the full run.
- "The 50 Most Powerful People in Politics Today" — a ranked feature placing George W. Bush outside the top two, with Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, and Tom DeLay among the named power players, documenting Washington's early 2001 power landscape with precision.
- The George Interview with Helen Thomas — the legendary White House correspondent reflecting on election 2000, conducted by Nancy Collins.
- "Power Offices" — an inside look at the personal workspaces of Larry King, Tom Wolfe, George Steinbrenner, Wolfgang Puck, Susan Sarandon, Leslie Moonves, and Rosie O'Donnell, reflecting the magazine's characteristic blending of political and celebrity culture.
Condition & Rarity
This issue presents in Good condition, with moderate age-consistent wear, corner creases, and light surface wear — honest findings for a magazine now over two decades old that has had some handling. At Good grade, the cover image and interior content should be fully readable and structurally intact, with wear confined to surfaces and corners rather than affecting primary content. A protective plastic sleeve has been applied, appropriate for long-term preservation. The farewell issue of George occupies a specific and non-reproducible position within the publication's complete run — there is only one closing issue, and it carries both the retrospective weight of the magazine's full six-year history and the direct editorial presence of Kennedy himself in its pages. For collectors who treat George as a complete archive rather than a source of individual issues, the May 2001 farewell is the document that closes the set.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
The farewell issue is the bookend to a magazine run that began with one of the most celebrated launch issues of the 1990s, and collecting George in its entirety means having both ends of that story. The full George Magazine archive at OriginalMagazines.com is the right place to explore what's available across all six volumes — from the Cindy Crawford launch cover through the final 2001 issues. The broader 2001 magazine collection provides wider context for collectors interested in the full media and political landscape of the year this landmark publication said its farewell.