Chesapeake Life Magazine -- covers lifestyle for the Chesapeake Bay region

ABOUT US

Meet the Staff

Claudia Meyers is the publisher of Chesapeake Life magazine. She is also president of the Alter Magazine Group of Alter Communications, Inc., parent company of Chesapeake Life magazine. She holds similar positions at Style magazine and PaperDoll. Additionally she is the company’s COO.

Meyers joined Alter in 1995 as Sales & Marketing Director. Prior to that she held positions of increasing responsibility at the Baltimore Sun, finishing her 10-year career there as Division Manager of Advertising. She began her career in advertising sales with the Desert Sun Publishing Company as an Account Executive and Advertising Manager. Claudia is a graduate of West Virginia University with a B.S.J. in Public Relations.

A native of Philadelphia, editor Joe Sugarman moved to Baltimore in 1991 and, despite the lack of good cheesesteaks, has refused to leave. He is the author of City Smart: Baltimore, an opinioned guidebook to Charm City. (Avalon, 2000) Previously, he was senior editor at Mid-Atlantic Country magazine, and wrote about recreation and regional travel for Microsoft’s online city guide, Sidewalk.com in Washington, D.C. He was also an associate editor at College Park magazine, the alumni publication of the University of Maryland. His freelance writing has appeared in the Washington Post, The Sun, Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine, Washington Flyer, and other regional and national publications. An avid traveler, Joe has visited and written about his experiences in Asia, the South Pacific, Europe, Central America, and locations throughout North America. Before embarking on a career in journalism, Joe was promotions coordinator at the Maryland Science Center, a position that required, among other duties, to attend parades and festivals dressed as T. Rex, the museum’s dinosaur mascot. Joe holds a bachelor’s degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Senior editor Kessler Burnett has deep roots in the Chesapeake region, with her family settling in Somerset County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in 1666. Before joining Chesapeake Life as editor in 1998, Kessler worked as a freelance writer, production assistant for ESPN’s 1998 Whitbread series, and public relations executive in Nassau, Bahamas. A native of Annapolis, Kessler atteneded Oldfields School in Glencoe, Md., and graduated from Hollins College with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Kim Van Dyke, art director and creative director of Chesapeake Life for seven years, holds a BS in advertising design from the University of Maryland, and a MA in publication design from the University of Baltimore. She has received many awards for her design including an art direction award from the Illustrators Club of MD, DC, VA, first place in special purpose publications from the Press Association Affiliate, and an Award of Excellence from the Art Director’s Club of Metropolitan Washington, DC. The International Regional Magazine Association has also awarded her best art direction of a regional magazine (with circulation under 40,000) in 2003 and 2005. Kim serves on the board of directors for the Crownsville Conservancy and her community association. She lives with her husband, two daughters and two dogs.

History

Chesapeake Life, published since 1996, was purchased by Alter Communications, Inc. in February 2001. This outstanding lifestyle magazine has become the ultimate guide for life in and around the Chesapeake Bay region. From regional travel, historical spotlights, food, recipes, calendar of events and more, Chesapeake Life is the magazine that reflects the diversity of the people and region. With its unique voice, Chesapeake Life publishes seven times a year (bimonthly plus December), and captures the essence of what it is like to live, work and play in one of the country’s most beautiful watershed areas.

Chesapeake Life is a division of Alter Communications, Inc., a regional diversified publishing company founded in 1919 when David Alter began the Baltimore Jewish Times. Today the company publishes four of Maryland’s premier lifestyle publications, Style, Chesapeake Life, PaperDoll and the Baltimore Jewish Times.