Detroit Free Press Yak mascot used to travel around the world

The Detroit Free Press used to have a mascot both in cartoon form and live in the flesh ... er, fur.

Covered in shaggy brown hair, the Yak was one of the the most recognizable faces of the Free Press from the early 1990s through 2013.

The mascot was tied to a mini-newspaper for young readers called YAK! that appeared in the Free Press each week. It could be pulled out, cut and folded into an eight-page mini newspaper.

There was also a smaller print section called the Yak's Corner that appeared more frequently.

The goal of the section was to reach kids ages 6-11 and encourage them to read.

When did the cartoon Yak first appear in the Detroit Free Press?

The cartoon version of the Yak first appeared in the Free Press in a preview article about the YAK! section on Sept. 11, 1994. It was created by Marty Westman, who was the art director for Yak's Corner.

The first YAK! section then published in the Detroit Free Press on Sept. 13, 1994.

Who came up with the YAK! and the mascot?

The idea for YAK! was formed at the Warehouse nightclub in Detroit's Rivertown district, where 26 Free Press and Detroit Newspapers employees met in November 1993 to brainstorm new ideas for reaching younger readers, according to a Free Press article promoting the YAK! on Sept. 11, 1994:

"Each person had interviewed four teenagers or pre-teens about their interests, lifestyles and reading habits. Over two days, the brainstormers participated in creativity exercises to translate what they learned from young readers into products the Free Press could create.

"Based on those exercises, one team was assigned to develop a mascot for the Free Press. During the 20-minute session, Cathy Collison, coordinator of News for Young Readers, and Wayne Kamidoi, sports design director, were casting about for an animal other than a wolverine.

"'We didn't want Michigan State people to be mad,' Kamidoi remembered. 'Finally, with two minutes left, Cathy said, 'How about a yak?' We thought it was kind of neat and unique; there aren't any teams called the Yaks, so we did it. And, as we found out, it rhymes with about everything."

Live Yak mascot debuts

Yak, the live mascot, was formally introduced to readers of YAK! on Oct. 25, 1994, but there was also a sneak peek of it Oct. 22, 1994, when a photo of the Yak with students from Yake Elementary in Woodhaven at the Free Press on Oct. 21 was published. They were the first children to see the Yak after asking for an early meet and greet because their school name contained the same letters, Y-A-K.

Yake Elementary students get to meet the Yak! its debut in the Free Press' newsroom on Oct. 21, 1994.

The live Yak mascot often visited metro Detroit schools and public events and occasionally crossed paths with Detroit professional athletes and team mascots.

However, the Yak's range wasn't limited to metro Detroit. The Yak roamed around Michigan, the United States and even the world.

The Yak traveled to Michigan tourism hotspots like Traverse City, the Mackinac Bridge and Tahquamenon Falls, taking pictures during the journey. He also traveled to other states like Montana, Oregon and Texas. The Yak even traveled across the world to Australia, Italy and Japan to help cover the Olympics.

Who wore the Yak costume?

Westman helped design the Yak costume with the company Costume Specialists and often wore it through 2009. He went to Napa Valley to oversee the building of it and was taught how to wash it in a big Rubbermaid tub since part of his job was maintaining the costume.

The costume was made of real yak hair and took 10 minutes to put on, according to a 2001 American Journalism Review article about the Yak.

Westman said in the article he would get in, plug in a battery and two fans inflated the costume like a balloon.

"I felt really hot," Westman said. "It's not as glamorous as it sounds."

"It's a heavy, awkward, smelly, vision-restrictive Yak," he said. "You see out of the mouth, which means you basically see your shoes."

Westman said he normally wore the costume when the Yak traveled for photo shoots and there was a rotation of four or five other people who would wear it for local events.

Westman, 64, now lives between Mount Pleasant and Big Rapids and works as a bartender in retirement. He doesn't wear the Yak suit to work, having turned it in to the Free Press in 2009.

Looking back, his most memorable moments as the Yak were going to the top of the Mackinac Bridge and traveling anywhere out of state.

"I got to see some really exciting places," he said.

The best part of being the Yak, according to Westman, was making kids happy.

"I had kids come up and say, 'This was the best day of my life,'" he said.

The worst part of the job was almost being lit on fire in Rome. He said was holding an Olympic flag in front of the Trevi Fountain in 2005 when some kids pulled out a lighter. Thankfully, former Free Press Deputy Director of Photo Rashaun Rucker, who was a photographer at the time, stopped them.

The Yak bids farewell to Italy by tossing coins over his shoulder at the Trevi Fountain on Nov. 10, 2005, while visiting Rome. Some kids attempted to light the Yak on fire with a lighter during this photo shoot.

He also said it was rough wearing the costume when it was 90 degrees outside.

Westman said there were two yak costumes. The Free Press kept the one with the real yak fur. Another version that was made with a Teddy Bear-like fur and was loaned out to other newspapers that published YAK!

Patricia Chargot, a Free Press staff writer at the time, was also interviewed for the American Journalism Review article. Chargot would often be the reporter accompanying the Yak and said it was like having Mickey Mouse following you around on assignment.

In the article, she said it was like "having an albatross around your neck." She joked that she couldn't let the Yak wander off on its own because you'd "have to protect the Yak from the enthusiastic kids who want to jump him."

What happened to the Yak?

On Jan. 11, 2001, Yak's Corner transitioned to an eight-page, full-color tabloid section that appeared every Thursday in the Detroit Free Press. A daily Yak's mini-corner continued on the Comics Page. Yak's Corner was sent to all Detroit schools.

Yak's Corner went green on Jan. 22, 2009, moving online to the now-defunct yakscorner.com and no longer appearing in print.

While the Yak could be compared to Mickey Mouse, it was another kind of mouse that led to its demise.

A former Detroit Newspapers marketing department employee said the Free Press version of the costume is gone after mice took up residence inside and destroyed it at the Sterling Heights Operations Facility, the former newspaper printing facility on Mound Road in Sterling Heights. The employee believes it was thrown out within the last five years.

If you have memories or photos with the Yak you'd be willing to share for publication, email them to [email protected].

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