26
Oct
2004
Our 500th issue! No question about it, it has been a labor of love from the beginning. A love of what? It might sound trite to say, but "truth" would be our faithful answer. To a person, the staff at the River Cities' Reader reflects an inherent goodness, a sense of fair play, and a commitment to the truth, individual as it may be, that binds us together in this endeavor to publish a paper that has substance and relevance. From our hearts, we want to thank our current staff for exceptional work, professionalism, patience and kindness, mutual respect, and most of all great senses of humor under the ever-present weekly deadline. A good friend of ours often states that the Reader amazes him because "you have to re-invent yourselves every single week. There's no resting on your laurels." An accurate description, no doubt.
Not only would this publication not be possible, but it would not remotely be the pleasure to publish without each one of our dedicated staff: Jeff Ignatius, our quintessential managing editor who keeps it all together (and whose time has finally come with the BoSox in the World Series); Cheryl Phoun, our graphic artist who gives each client's ad campaign thoughtful creative energy; Rick Martin, our tireless circulation manager who continues to be the finest ambassador of distribution we've ever had; Lib Clausen, our office administrator, whose patience and attention to detail have saved the day many a time; Lars Rehnberg, a good Swedish boy and sales protégé magnifico who not only knows how to help customers but can recite origins of words and phrases on the fly; Greg Ball, our newest sales protégé who gets in doors we couldn't open and can get anyone talking; Alejandro Jimenez, our graphics intern who soaks up info like a sponge no matter how much you throw at him; and our newest journalism intern, John Perreault, who has shown perseverance allowing him to shine in a very tough field.
It's a team effort to publish an independent weekly, and a major part of our success comes from our contributing columnists: Joe Collins (City Shorts), Mike Schulz (movie reviews), Rich Miller (Capitol Fax), Amy Alkon (Advice Goddess), Abbie Dombrock (classical-music reviews), John James (music news), Mike LoGuidice (art reviews), Jill Walsh (theatre reviews), Rob Brezsny (Free Will Astrology). We are very fortunate to have a stable of journalists who take pride in their work and provide a fresh, no-nonsense perspective week after week.
Visually the Reader keeps you on your toes with the brilliant photography of Brian Barkley and illustrations of Ting Phoun.
And what good would all this hard work be if you, the reader, couldn't conveniently find your Reader every Wednesday at more than 900 locations throughout the area? To reach over 40,000 readers every week takes a coordinated, timely effort by our dedicated drivers: Jay Strickland (our senior driver), Mike Stroehle, Dorene Anderson, Cheri Delay, Greg Williams, William Cook, Cliff Hobart, and Antonia Sgro.
We also want to express a very special and heartfelt thanks to the irascible, tenacious, and genuinely extraordinary Dr. Lanny C. Powell. His talents helped launch this publication 500 issues ago, and his influence and attention kept us intellectually challenged, morally accountable, and seriously questioning how the hell we hooked up with this guy.
Actually, it was college - St. Ambrose University back in the dark ages, when Dr. Powell forced his students to turn in exhaustive outlines before we executed his essay assignments. That's how he came to be the Reader's first copy editor, red-lining copy until his fingers practically fell off, and for some of us, his head was soon to follow. To this day, he continues to maintain a depth of scrutiny and inquiry that challenges us to strive for the ever-elusive truth that meaningful journalism demands and the community deserves.
Finally, the Reader thrives because you, the reader, continue to read, enjoy, critique, and use this newspaper. Five hundred issues later, we are grateful for your support and the support of our hundreds of advertisers. Please let the clients you see in these pages, as well as the establishments that carry the Reader, know how much you appreciate their participation.
Here's to the next 500 ... .
This Week's Cover
The cover image is a wood and mixed-media sculpture by local artisan Bob O'Hare, photographed by Brian Barkley. The piece is entitled See Nothing, Say Nothing, and we thought it an appropriate image in these final days before the 2004 general election. We hope readers don't take the title as an instruction; the Reader encourages you to scrutinize candidates carefully and vote on Tuesday, November 2.
Not only would this publication not be possible, but it would not remotely be the pleasure to publish without each one of our dedicated staff: Jeff Ignatius, our quintessential managing editor who keeps it all together (and whose time has finally come with the BoSox in the World Series); Cheryl Phoun, our graphic artist who gives each client's ad campaign thoughtful creative energy; Rick Martin, our tireless circulation manager who continues to be the finest ambassador of distribution we've ever had; Lib Clausen, our office administrator, whose patience and attention to detail have saved the day many a time; Lars Rehnberg, a good Swedish boy and sales protégé magnifico who not only knows how to help customers but can recite origins of words and phrases on the fly; Greg Ball, our newest sales protégé who gets in doors we couldn't open and can get anyone talking; Alejandro Jimenez, our graphics intern who soaks up info like a sponge no matter how much you throw at him; and our newest journalism intern, John Perreault, who has shown perseverance allowing him to shine in a very tough field.
It's a team effort to publish an independent weekly, and a major part of our success comes from our contributing columnists: Joe Collins (City Shorts), Mike Schulz (movie reviews), Rich Miller (Capitol Fax), Amy Alkon (Advice Goddess), Abbie Dombrock (classical-music reviews), John James (music news), Mike LoGuidice (art reviews), Jill Walsh (theatre reviews), Rob Brezsny (Free Will Astrology). We are very fortunate to have a stable of journalists who take pride in their work and provide a fresh, no-nonsense perspective week after week.
Visually the Reader keeps you on your toes with the brilliant photography of Brian Barkley and illustrations of Ting Phoun.
And what good would all this hard work be if you, the reader, couldn't conveniently find your Reader every Wednesday at more than 900 locations throughout the area? To reach over 40,000 readers every week takes a coordinated, timely effort by our dedicated drivers: Jay Strickland (our senior driver), Mike Stroehle, Dorene Anderson, Cheri Delay, Greg Williams, William Cook, Cliff Hobart, and Antonia Sgro.
We also want to express a very special and heartfelt thanks to the irascible, tenacious, and genuinely extraordinary Dr. Lanny C. Powell. His talents helped launch this publication 500 issues ago, and his influence and attention kept us intellectually challenged, morally accountable, and seriously questioning how the hell we hooked up with this guy.
Actually, it was college - St. Ambrose University back in the dark ages, when Dr. Powell forced his students to turn in exhaustive outlines before we executed his essay assignments. That's how he came to be the Reader's first copy editor, red-lining copy until his fingers practically fell off, and for some of us, his head was soon to follow. To this day, he continues to maintain a depth of scrutiny and inquiry that challenges us to strive for the ever-elusive truth that meaningful journalism demands and the community deserves.
Finally, the Reader thrives because you, the reader, continue to read, enjoy, critique, and use this newspaper. Five hundred issues later, we are grateful for your support and the support of our hundreds of advertisers. Please let the clients you see in these pages, as well as the establishments that carry the Reader, know how much you appreciate their participation.
Here's to the next 500 ... .
This Week's Cover
The cover image is a wood and mixed-media sculpture by local artisan Bob O'Hare, photographed by Brian Barkley. The piece is entitled See Nothing, Say Nothing, and we thought it an appropriate image in these final days before the 2004 general election. We hope readers don't take the title as an instruction; the Reader encourages you to scrutinize candidates carefully and vote on Tuesday, November 2.
