On my first day as editor of the Burnaby NOW, I looked out my office window – which, it turns out, is my first-ever actual office window after years of cave-like conditions – and noticed a familiar building.
It’s a warehouse across from the Production Way SkyTrain station that my dad worked at as a manager for many years. I used to ride my bike there as a child after school and say hello, and he’d let me wander the dark and spooky warehouse unsupervised. (This was, after all, the 1970s – we’d just started using seatbelts.)
The view from my office felt comfortable, like I was at home, where I’m supposed to be. I sighed with great satisfaction and thought about the long, strange trip I’ve taken in life before returning as editor of my hometown newspaper, as well as the New Westminster Record.
I was born here and raised in North Burnaby, attending Parkcrest Elementary and Burnaby North Secondary (go Vikings!).It would have been nice to stay here, but journalism often takes you away, and I spent time working in the Fraser Valley before settling down in Maple Ridge, first as a reporter and then editor. In all, I worked 20 years for one of the town’s newspapers. Along the way, I raised an amazing daughter who is approximately 1,266 times smarter and more mature than I was at age 19.
After leaving Maple Ridge, I ended up back in Burnaby to be closer my mom – she still lives only three minutes from the house I grew up in – and as my previous job as managing editor of a Vancouver commuter daily.
And then … it happened.
Legendary editor Pat Tracy, who was one of my mentors when I first started out in this business, retired after a distinguished career – and now here I am, sitting in the uncomfortable office chair that she swears she loves and looking to fill her enormous shoes.
I’m grateful to NOWpublisher Lara Graham for giving me this opportunity. I was hired with the promise to continue the high standards that Pat set. That means great stories and photos, plus engaging opinions, in both the print editions and on our digital platforms.
I’m helped in this challenge by an amazing editorial team, led by the unsung assistant editor Julie Mac-Lellan. She’s held things together during the transition, producing excellent newspapers and holding my hand as I got settled in (and trying not to laugh as I attempted to record my office phone’s voicemail greeting approximately 68 times).
So, what can readers expect from me? Well, an experienced journalist who understands what makes a community newspaper great. I’ll also be a visible presence in the community.
If you do see me at a community event, come over and say “hey” and tell me your story. I’m home now, so it’s time to meet all the neighbours.
