Before the start of his senior year, Tony decided he was going to produce a weekly "zine" that would aim to present stories the more conventional channels were missing. If you've never heard of a zine, it is simply a non-commercial magazine that is often homemade. His interest here emanates from a few sentiments, but one is he doesn't feel the school-sanctioned outlets are encouraged to present a very diverse array of viewpoints.

With many of our children's ventures, Marty and I held back, encouraging it to unfold (or wither) organically. BUT producing a weekly publication while splitting time between two schools (high school and a trade School) AND working a proper job (Trader Joe's) AND having an enviably active and varied social life, Marty and I worried about his ability to keep ahead of the wave. I came to learn that we each approached him on separate occasions offering to help. I offered to assist with design, editing, and covering some of the printing costs. Marty offered to help with cutting, rolling, and any other production steps that might be helpful to him. We were both politely but firmly told thanks but no thanks. He went on to say that he had to make this happen fully on his own and with zero assistance from adults, especially his parents. Not only do we get it, we very much respect (and admire) his position here. When I told a friend about Tony's venture, he said he would start weeping if his grown children ever displayed that sort of iniative about anything.

It has been fascinating watching the creative evolution with this endeavor. I'm not sure about the full germination of the idea or decision to go forward but it was clearly pulled from the ether, resource-wise. In example, the first two issues of the zine were origami-like folded pages that produced a miniature magazine. Super clever but time-consuming to make. Version two was a half sheet of paper folded in half. Lots faster but overtly unimpressive. Version three was a scroll-like vertical one-sided document, made by taping two pages together and rolling it for distribution. More interesting than the half sheet but too much-wasted paper with the unused back side. Version four was a third of a vertical page, with printing on both sides and rolled in a way that prominently shows the zine title, Red Leather Talks. The fourth iteration is smart, clean, and relatively fast to produce. 

What you see in the above picture is Tony's go-gear for a day at school. The bag on the left is his shower kit, which he will use to clean up after school and before going to his job. At the top is Tony's briefcase, which is something he has had for a long while (ref). In the first weeks of the zine, this is what he distributed them from. He even had a super crafty friend help him felt-line the interior, so there was a bit of pulp-fiction energy for a case holding something as scintillating as one hundred copies of Red Leather Talks. Then you have boringly his school bookbag. And lastly, you have one of his new distribution containers, which will be placed around the school. That last bit is also a bit of an evolution because, at first, he had to be pretty low-key about distributing them, hence the briefcase, but the response to his counter-publication has gone well and has been green-lit for more proper and numerous distribution channels.

In answer to a question I've already fielded a few times, no, there is not a digital version of Red Leather Talks. But to give you a slight taste, let me share the opening section from the latest edition:
People who know me have a sense for the amount of pride and joy Tony's venture brings me. And if that were the end of the story, they would be right enough. But my kids have a way of overdelivering when it comes to taking care of Marty and I. When I asked Anfer about the zine's title, Red Leather Talks, he told me it was in reference to the chair in my office where they, the kids, would sit for our dad hour chats (ref). He said it seemed fitting given all the conversations that happened in that chair as well as being a bit of a mysterious and nuanced title. Now if you will excuse me, I think I'm going to go sit in my red leather chair until I stop feeling like I might cry.