I loved my years at the paper — the people, the passion, our office in Ybor City. I started as an editorial assistant in 1992 (I was excellent at picking up reuben sandwiches and entering movie times), then Editorial Manager, Managing Editor, Co-Publisher in 1998, then sole Publisher. Can’t remember how long I was Publisher — maybe a year or less? Getting old … 🙂 [Editor’s Note: Dix Lyons, formerly Dix Tibbits, left in 2001.]
We had such a talented staff, and the way I remember it the work was nearly all fun. Part of that, I think, was the sense of mission we felt in the editorial department in those days. We knew our voice was important in the community. We were unafraid. At our best we raised the level of cultural awareness, stood up for social justice, shined the spotlight on the margins, and challenged the establishment. I’ll always remember working with Susan Edwards, Roxanne Escobales, David Jasper, Julie Garisto, Todd Bates, Michelle Lee, John Sugg, Eric Snider and Susan Eastman. We did some great work together.
Here’s a favorite memory. One April Fool’s when I was editor we decided to go on a SWAT mission to the St. Petersburg Times. We all dressed in black and met late at night at our office in Ybor. I think we may have had some toy weapons just in case we needed to defend ourselves. The photographer David Audet drove, because he had this badass van that made us all feel like professionals. We drove to the Times, parked, rolled out (or something like that), hung the Weekly Planet banner over the Times sign on their campus, and took photos of all of us posed by the banner, which we ran in the paper along with a story of the takeover. I’m pretty sure we vanquished evil and saved lives along the way, but I’ll leave that one to the historians.
I’m living in the Napa Valley now in California, founder and CEO of an international nonprofit organization called Clinica Verde. We’ve built a global prototype of a sustainably designed health clinic for women and children living in poverty in Nicaragua, and are currently serving over 1,100 patients per month while exploring opportunities for growth and expansion.
It may seem like a leap, but it’s not. I’m still standing up for social justice and shining a light on the margins. I still love my job.
And I haven’t completely given up journalism. I occasionally write Perspectives for KQED, the San Francisco affiliate of NPR, and this spring I’m teaching a journalism class at Pacific Union College. Michelle Lee and John Sugg are both Skype-ing in for a class.
How can you donate to Clinica Verde, you ask? Happy to oblige: clinicaverde.org
This article appears in Apr 18-24, 2013.
