Lest you all think I have it out for editors and publishers, I wanted to publish a "good witch" post to balance out some of the negativity here.
I was absolutely thrilled to find out earlier this week that Amanda Kingsbury, my former editor from the East Valley Tribune, will be in town this weekend and I will get to see her for the first time in about three years, I believe. She is bringing her toddler daughter, Violet, whom I've never met, and her husband John, who will no doubt be jealous to the point of tears over my husband Eric's killer new mountain bike.
To say I can't wait to see them all is an understatement. Amanda is an editor extraordinaire who became a friend. I pretty much owe my career to her. She is one of the most intelligent and talented people I know, and on top of that, she is a complete sweetheart. I lacked confidence when I started in the Features department at the Tribune and she was the best teacher/editor a writer could ever have: Positive, constructive, encouraging, funny ... there really aren't enough adjectives to describe her.
Thanks to her tutelage, I became proficient at everything from the snappy 200-word intro to the 2,000-word long form feature. I won my first (and so far, only) award thanks to her: First place in long-form lifestyle writing from the Arizona Press Club.
She's won several awards and honors throughout her career and is now at the Indianapolis Star, where I'm sure she is kicking butt, as usual (in a good way).
Recently I looked back through several old feature articles I wrote while working for her, and I was proud of them. I took a few of them to an interview with a prospective publisher and he told me I was exactly what he'd been looking for. Those articles helped me land a new and exciting client, the Times (look for my article on unicycles in the November issue).
I've had several other wonderful editors since Amanda, but she is truly special.
Feel free to share your "good witch" stories here. Are there any editors you want to applaud? Any other colleagues who have been a positive influence?
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1 comment:
Amanda Kingsbury ROCKS! She was the features editor when I was sports editor at the Trib, which means we frequently exchanged our Trib management horror stories, of which there were many. Geri, be sure to give Amanda my best wishes when you see her!!!!
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