Yes, it is true, or that is the case according to the two people in the customer service department that I have just finished talking to.

I ordered it at the beginning of August, and have received no issues. E-mails, yes, but no magazines. Today I received a bill, noting that I had not paid for my subscription. (I hadn't paid up front - the ad said they'd bill me. This seems to be common practice - at least it has been the case for every other publication that I and my wife subscribe to.)

Surprised, I found their phone number (800-333-5854) and called it.

I explained to the woman who answered that I had a bill and no issues after more than two months. I was told that my account had yet to be paid. I explained why, and again asked when the subscription would start: the bill indicated an expiration of "AUG 15", which would be correct if I subscribed in August of this year.

I again asked when my subscription would start, and I was told that Shop Notes was no longer being published.

So that is the way it is: Shop Notes is dead. WoodSmith will be enlarged to include some of the material that used to be in Shop Notes. People at August Home Publishing Company have been laid off, or so I have been told.

I guess greed wins again.