Sad news from Finland:
Jani "Jantsa" Kärkkäinen, the founder and longtime editor of Finnish punk fanzine Toinen Vaihtoehto, was found dead last Sunday. He was born in 1969. Kärkkäinen was found drowned by the sea shore.
Jantsa started editing Toinen Vaihtoehto in 1989. This DIY, A5-sized magazine was the forum that the Finnish punk scene used to inform about gigs, events, records, new addresses and other stuff like that. Before the time of the Internet, its value was priceless (however the 1-year subscription, some 10 issues, cost just about 30-40 Finnish marks, that's like two 7" EPs). In the mid to late 90s Toinen Vaihtoehto's circulation was around 1,500 copies of which 1000-1200 were subscriptions. That's really good for a DIY punk publication in a country as small as Finland. So far, the latest issue is #211.
Jantsa had to give up editing the magazine - and playing in Juggling Jugulars - in 2006 after a severe brain haemorrhage. He survived, but had to use an electric wheelchair for the rest of his life.
After Jantsa's ill-condition Toinen Vaihtoehto was on a small hiatus and since then it've been edited by a new editor-in-chief. As far as we know, it will continue to publish.
For more on TV and Jani "Jantsa" Kärkkäinen go here: http://www.punkinfinland.net/tv/