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Townsend Letter Staff
It is wonderful to celebrate 30 years of the Townsend Letter. However, the magazine would be a shadow of itself without the dedication of our staff.
Barbara Smith has been laying out the magazine since the mid-1980s; in fact, she even was responsible for doing its layout earlier as an employee of the local printer. In the 1990s until 2010 she managed the magazine at our office in addition to doing the layout. Barbara remembers the days when she typeset the manuscripts as they came in before the layout could be started. Word processing enabled her to give up that chore so that she could work more with graphic design. A few years ago she retired from her office position, but she continues to communicate with writers and advertisers by e-mail. Now Barbara does the layout on the road seamlessly sending it to the editors for proofing and then to the printer. She completed this issue's layout while sojourning in Key West, Florida. I am very grateful for Barbara's outstanding work with the Townsend Letter.
Lauren Brown is our editor, proofreader, and copywriter. She has worked in that capacity like our previous editors locally in Port Townsend. Lauren intends to move out of the area in 2013 and has transitioned well to doing the editing work by Internet. The Townsend Letter has had a longstanding reputation for excellent editing. I know that Lauren has been very thorough in that capacity – my Uncle Wally, an outstanding court reporter, informs me whenever there are spelling errors (there usually are none). We are very appreciative of Lauren's work.
Jule Klotter, our contributing editor, is familiar to everyone as the writer of her monthly "Shorts" column. Jule is also the editor of our highly regarded Townsend Calendar of events. The Townsend Calendar is recognized preeminently in results of Google searches for alternative medicine meetings. Jule is also responsible for the Townsend Letter index available at our website. Jule was located locally in the early days of the magazine; she has been doing her editing and writing for the past 15 years from North Carolina and more recently from South Carolina.
Joy Reuther-Costa heads our Circulation Department and, together with her sister Julie Reuther, handles all subscription inquiries. For many years the Townsend Letter was manually placed in an envelope for mailing in our Port Townsend office. Joy organized the work crew, including Julie, who spent a "fun" Saturday assembling the magazine. Now the magazine is enveloped automatically at Dartmouth Press in New Hampshire.
Joy is also responsible for special projects. Her most recent work has been setting up the electronic edition of the magazine with Tecnavia. Perhaps Joy's most important role has been helping us all out when things break down. Julie Reuther is responsible for the office administrative duties and bookkeeping. Joy and Julie keep the Townsend Letter humming.
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Jill Tomasi primarily works as my secretary and medical assistant in the adjoining medical office. Jill is also responsible for assisting in Townsend Letter duties, especially ensuring that the magazine is made available for distribution at medical meetings. Jill has provided me the stable rock of support that has allowed the medical practice to function together with the magazine. I am very fortunate indeed to have such a great staff to work with. |
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Sandy Hershelman is our long-time webmaster, or, as she prefers, webmistress. Archives of past issues and contents of our current issues are always available at the website. Sandy's work has always been done "off site," but she lives locally and keeps us grounded in the Pacific Northwest.
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Affinity Collin, my daughter, is working on advertising and marketing while residing in Portland, Oregon. Both she and her brother, Samuel Collin, have shared in developing the spirit of the Townsend Letter family.
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Last and certainly not least, let me thank my wife, Deborah Nissen-Collin, who has enabled me to nurture the magazine since its inception. Since Port Townsend is not close to our home, I spend 2 to 3 days per week away. Deborah says that I have the best of both worlds, spending time each week both in Port Townsend and Kirkland, Washington.
Jonathan Collin, MD
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