For the week of Feb 5 - 12, 2002

"The Inside Story" is Tim Brown’s Olympic salute

Magazine is an inside job, family project

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By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius," meaning Swifter, Higher, Stronger.

Tim Brown’s photo of a tight group of female short track skaters during a World Cup qualifying heat at The Delta Center appears on page 17 of his 66-page "The Inside Story" magazine. Photo courtesy Sun Valley Magazine

Bellevue resident Tim Brown has accomplished the equivalent with an impressive publication called "The Inside Story."

A slick guide to the 2002 Winter Olympics, "The Inside Story," is like loaded Audi station wagon, both beautiful and functional.

The souvenir magazine is loaded with juicy interviews and information on all the Olympic sports under headings like Ice, Speed, Nordic, Alpine and Air.

Brown, a 38-year-old Sun Valley native, said the idea for the guide came from his older sister Darby.

"Darby saw some of the official books and thought we could do something better," Brown remarked.

The magazine truly became a family project with siblings Steve and Darby doing a lot of the writing, and Pat, Jackie and Matt offering their help in other ways.

Brown recounted, "I went to Dave Almquist (a family friend and the magazine’s designer) and told him I wanted to do something on the Olympics.

"Dave said, ‘you have one problem. You need a staff of writers, photographers, designers, production people and distributors’. And I thought, well, I have four brothers and sisters."

Also a huge help were Tim’s wife Lisa, and daughters, Barrett, 8, and Waverly, 4.

Barrett, an author at the Hemingway Elementary Publishing House, reminded her dad that he had to dedicate the magazine to someone.

Of course it is dedicated to his immediate family. They’ve supported Tim while he has worked on the project basically non-stop for the last three months.

It’s a labor of love.

Without a concrete idea of exactly how the project would turn out, Brown, a photographer for 20 years, knew he wanted "to provide information visually that the others hadn’t done yet."

He accomplished that in spades.

"The Inside Story," has sumptuous photos and thought-provoking interviews with the hottest athletes going to Salt Lake City—Olympic gold medalist Picabo Street, skeleton racer Jim Shea Jr., hockey players Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk, and aerialist Eric Bergoust.

"We cover all the Olympic events. Two pages on each sport," Brown said.

"We have four interviews with the best alpine skier, best aerialist, best skeleton racer and best U.S. hockey players. I didn’t think it was going to turn out near as well as it did. It’s not bad for a spud from Idaho."

Almquist designed the magazine and Drew Furlong of Bellevue was the production manager.

"Dave is responsible for the design and classy look of it. Drew put it together," Brown said.

With some help from freelance photographers and stock agency Allsport and Brown’s own work, "The Inside Story," is jam-packed full of eye-popping, jaw-dropping images.

From a series of Jim Shea taking off on his sled to speedskaters to cross country racers in full stride, the photos capture the speed, strength and essence of athletes in their prime.

"I try and figure out what the essence of the activity is. I want to show the peak action of the sport," Brown explained.

"For me, the skeleton is all about the take-off. If you get a good series of a take-off it completely explains the sport to someone who has never seen it before."

Brown, a 1982 graduate of The Community School, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara.

He learned the trade as a gopher for "Sports Illustrated" photographers and has assisted on shoots for the U.S. Open Golf Tournament and the Breeder’s Cup horse race.

"What attracted me about the SI guys is they would try and capture something that hadn’t been done. They would try and go to the next level," Brown said.

You could say Brown has done the same with "The Inside Story."

The Inside Story is available locally at Atkinson Markets in Ketchum and Hailey. It is being distributed throughout the Salt Lake City area.

 

 

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.