OP/ED
I'm So Glad We've Had This Time Together
I'm So Glad We've Had This Time Together
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Many times during my tenure as editor of OITM, people have told me I have a thankless job. I always tell them I have not found this to be true at all.
While I am constantly aware that most people do not realize how much work goes into the paper by so many people for little or no financial remuneration, thanks is something I have not found in short supply. In fact, what I will treasure most from my time at OITM is the heartfelt gratitude I’ve heard from so many of its readers.
A man who lives in a tiny town on the Canadian border told me with tears in his eyes that receipt of the paper each month was often his only link to the GLBT community—the only sign he had that he was not alone. A teenager from a less-than-liberal community wrote to say that OITM had given her the resources and information she needed as she struggled to come out to her family and friends. Our legislative leaders told me repeatedly that OITM is a constant and important reminder to lawmakers that we are here and paying attention to what is happening in Montpelier. Mainstream journalists turn to OITM as a window to our community and are often forthcoming in their appreciation of the information it provides.
It always seemed that just as I reached the end of my energy, something new would pop up to tell me how important our work was to so many people. Perhaps the most gratifying of all the messages I got came just after OITM celebrated its 13th birthday. One morning in a stack of mail, I found a short letter addressed to me. Its author told me that he had been part of the small group of people who had gathered in someone’s living room in 1986, Exacto knives in hand, to piece together the first issue of our community’s newspaper. He went on to say that he was very proud of what the paper had become, and he included a generous donation in honor of OITM’s birthday. To have someone who helped to conceive the paper tell me that we were fulfilling his dreams for it was momentous. I’ve kept that letter on the bulletin board in the office ever since. It is a constant reminder of what this paper really is—both a product of and vital tool for our community.
OITM has grown and matured with us, and with your continued support, the sky is the limit. I’m very proud to have led the paper through its early adolescence, but I owe my success to everyone who came before me. Each editor has guided the paper through another stage in its development, building on what was done before him or her. That’s exactly as it should be.
Please, please continue to support Mountain Pride Media’s work. Subscribe, volunteer, donate money—it’s all critical to the continued success of a publication we would all be much poorer without.
My first editorial, 26 issues ago, came out sounding an awful lot like an acceptance speech at the Oscars with all the people I had to thank, and here I go again…
The board of Mountain Pride Media is an extraordinary group. Each of them holds down a full-time job somewhere that actually pays them, and then gives often equal amounts of time to this organization for free. They raise money, make budgets, stuff envelopes, deliver papers, and so much more. I only wish that all of the very important organizations that serve our community were fortunate enough to have such an amazing group of people to support their work. Thank you to all who have served on the board while I’ve been editor. I’ll always be grateful for the faith you had in me.
The staff of Out in the Mountains is an ever-changing and always hard-working group. Thank you for humoring me and cooperating so beautifully on my sometimes far-fetched ideas. We put out a product every month that could hold its own in most ways against publications with larger staffs that get paid. The fact that all of you do what you do each month is testimony to the necessity of the paper. OITM lives on because you need it to; you breathe life into it month after month.
I’ve carefully avoided naming names here, because I will certainly leave out someone, if I start to get specific. However, there are two that must be named. My preternaturally patient life partner, Tina Giangrande, has served the paper directly as copy editor extraordinaire and associate editor. Perhaps more significant has been her personal support of me in matters financial, emotional, and creative. For many reasons, I simply couldn’t have done this job without her.
Then there is my daughter, Courtney; though slightly less patient, she was the innocent victim of the schedule we kept during production and time we spent away from home covering events. Not that she really had any choice in the matter of my employment, but she could have made life much more difficult for me. Thanks, Court, for putting up with the crazy life we’ve led.
I’m indebted to all of you who have helped make the past two and half years exciting, fruitful, productive, and fun. You are the best!
I genuinely look forward to watching the paper grow and mature further under the guidance of Jason Whipple, who, I’m sure, can count on the same level of support from the community that I received. He’s got all the drive and passion necessary to do the job well. Please welcome and assist him as you did me.