Publisher Burt Cohen built local media empire, was relentless civic volunteer and a pretty funny guy

In April, Burt Cohen wrote his last column for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, a publication he started in 1978 after purchasing what was then the struggling Mpls. magazine.

In it, Cohen listed what he described as his “semi-notable qualities”: “I never used profanity, never exercised, rarely ate green leafy veggies or any healthy foods, adored carbs and fried foods, cried at even slightly sad movies, tried to never be cruel or hurtful to anyone including animals, always silently gave thanks for blessings, and was aware of and grateful for the countless people who helped me at every stage of my life.”

Cohen described the final version of his monthly “Cohen Report” as the last of approximately 12,500 columns he’d written starting when he was given a mimeograph machine for his 12th birthday, continuing when he worked at the school paper at Southwest High School in Minneapolis, in the Army, at the University of Minnesota and finally at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine.

But actually, Cohen had one more column left in him: his obituary.

“Burton ‘Burt’ Cohen died on May 10, 2025. He was 94½ and overweight. He was given plenty of advance notice of his imminent death, but his lifelong habit of procrastination meant he didn’t write this obituary until pretty much the last minute, thereby sacrificing fact checking, proofreading and style. Readers please note,” Cohen wrote of himself with his characteristic self-deprecating sense of humor.

He wrote that he died “not of flabbiness, as had been widely predicted, but of advanced aortic stenosis, after choosing to reject the surgical procedure that would have corrected the problem.”

He said the surgery would have delayed the inevitable “like putting a new set of tires on an old jalopy.”

Cohen, who was born and spent most of his life in Minneapolis, was a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

He got his start in publishing working for the family business, Modern Medicine Publications, a group of medical and dental trade publications that Cohen’s father and uncles started in 1929. He worked his way up until he was general manager even after the business was sold to the New York Times Co.

But he left the publication after it was sold again to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. Rather than move to New York to continue working for the company, he and his wife, Rusty, decided to stay in Minnesota.

Taking the opportunity to buy and transform Mpls. magazine into Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, he built “one of the most successful city magazines in America,” according to the obituary he wrote.

“What has kept Mpls.St.Paul relevant to audiences is what Burt instilled in us: a sense of community, a sense of purpose, a sense of kindness,” said Jayne Haugen Olson, the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

His company also went on to publish Twin Cities Business, the monthly program guide for Twin Cities Public Television, the monthly magazine for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Guthrie Theater programs and dozens of trade periodicals.

He sold his company, MSP Publications, then bought it back again with partners Gary Johnson and Brian Anderson, and then sold it again. But he continued to write a monthly column for the magazine even after he stepped down as publisher.

He prized civility and was a prolific sender of handwritten notes. His columns were composed on a typewriter and were accompanied by his own handwritten illustrations.

Cohen created a sophisticated city magazine that told Twin Citians what a great town they were living in. But with his wife, Rusty, he also volunteered, served on boards and was a prolific fundraiser for many of the institutions that made it a great town, including Mia, the University of St. Thomas, the alumni board of the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Opera, the Children’s Theatre Company, the Minneapolis Club and the Minnesota Zoo.

“He really believed in the potential of making the world a better place and that was his way of doing that,” said his son, Michael Cohen.

He wrote that approaching the end of life meant no longer having to worry about “diets or potholes or underwear bunching up, so that frees up time to reflect, to realize how immensely grateful I am to have had such a beautiful life, filled with love and fun, and with quiet satisfaction of having contributed a bit to causes and organizations that make our community and our world at least a teeny bit better.”

Audrey “Rusty” Cohen died in 2023 after 70 years of marriage. She and Burt met when they were both heads of the Greek fraternity and sorority systems at the U.

Burt Cohen is survived by his three children, Michael, Jeffrey and Susan; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Services have been held.