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It feels both strange and not strange to be "stepping down" as editor and "stepping up to the plate" as a sales associate. When Penny resigned, I helped Deverick put together ads for her replacement. We placed those ads in a variety of places, including the August issue of The New Times, little realizing that it would be the last issue I supervised as editor. Almost literally the moment we sent that issue off to the printer, through a little bit of discussion and a heavy dose of guidance, we came to the conclusion that I was to be our new account representative. When Deverick bought the paper in 1996, it was after a search that had lasted nearly two years. He had spent his entire professional career until 1994 as a civil engineer, but left the corporate world to shop for a business for sale that reflected his values better than what I’ve heard him call "implementing bad policy in the kindest, gentlest way possible." Among other criteria he considered in looking at what turned out to be a comically disparate array of possibilities was a way to include me, his partner, in the running of the business. For many reasons, The New Times emerged as the clear choice among the options considered, and one of those reasons was that the editor role seemed tailor-made for me. When people have asked in the past how I got that job, I often joked that sleeping with the publisher didn’t hurt, but there’s much more to it than that. I don’t have any special education in English or journalism, but I do have a passion for correct usage and clear communication that goes back to my childhood, and I placed in the top percentile in the composition achievement test I took with my college entrance exams. (Blame my father for my being what I call a grammar bitch. Just one example: once when he was driving the family by a sign that said "Drive Slow," he panicked and urged us all to cover our eyes since, of course, it should have read "Drive Slowly.") I feel very good about the job I did as editor, and that job description includes many more responsibilities than just accepting or rejecting submissions and then editing the copy. It also involves designing individual ads as well as the overall layout of the paper, proofreading the classifieds, and many more detail-oriented tasks. My ability to accurately track and reconcile minutiae has served The New Times and me well up to this point, but as Deverick mentioned above, our publication is on the verge of major improvements. Until now, we’ve functioned very well as a team, Deverick as the vision person and me as the implementation person. With the direction the paper’s taking next, the editor needs to have all the skills I’ve brought to my work thus far and be a vision person too. After I decided to take on the sales position (all my work experience prior to coming here was in sales), Deverick planned to advertise instead for someone to fill the position of editor. I recommended that he consider Charles Alkire, who had been our office manager for the last year, for the job. Charles has contributed several book reviews since working here, and I can honestly say that he’s among the best writers whose work I’ve had the pleasure of barely needing to edit. I couldn’t imagine his not being able to do a superb job as editor, especially since he can do "the vision thing" in addition to all the things I did. I don’t think that it’s premature to announce that he was a splendid choice or to predict that you’ll be noticing his touch in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways as time goes on. There is one more delightful component of our recent internal restructuring. It is my extreme pleasure to announce that Amanda Patrick, who was the office manager here from February 1998 through May 2000, has returned to resume that role. After a year and a half spent completing work on her bachelor of arts degree in Vermont, she came back to Seattle earlier this year, and we were thrilled to find that she was available and happy to work with us again. Rosanne remains in place as my fellow account representative (I’m looking forward to the first day that I don’t need to ask her any questions, and I’ll bet she is too!), and of course Deverick is still the publisher. The organic way in which our present team came together, coupled with the growth and improvement we have in mind for the very near future, keeps me very excited about coming to work in the morning. We’re all looking forward to being able to offer both our readers and our advertisers a better product than ever. Charles and Deverick will offer more specifics in coming months, and they have invited Rosanne and Amanda to share from their perspectives as well. Stay tuned — and get ready! |
