Well, after too many years to count, I’m toast.
As of Dec. 31, my years of gainful employment came to an end. And while I’m not saying my byline is gone from the paper forever, my picture will be leaving the masthead, and my role as associate publisher is history.
Like many people who find themselves in this new role, it has been almost equal parts anticipation and dread.
On the one hand, I look forward to silencing the wailing beast that is my clock radio — as of now, I will only need it one day a week. Yahoo!
I’ve never been one of those jump-out-bed, greet-the-day-singing weirdos. Now I can live life as it’s meant to be, and that means waking when the body — not some sombre CBC announcer — says so. The other nice thing sleep-wise is answering the siren call of the couch in mid-afternoon. The only challenge will be fighting Wayne for the soft pillow.
And I will not miss for one minute the long drive home in winter when it’s raining and every single car on the Sunshine Coast seems to be travelling towards me. To all the lump heads who have insisted on tailgating me on that lonely road, I say, find another victim, Elvis has left the highway.
On the other hand, I will miss seeing daily the great people I’ve worked with. One thing about a creative business such as ours is that it’s never boring. We have some of the quirkiest people in the business world in newspapers, and that’s what makes it so much fun.
Some of the people I’ve learned the most from editorially were considerably younger than me. In some cases they were fresh-faced graduates just beginning their careers. Some of them have gone on to successful careers with other papers (Ben Ingram) and sadly, some wanting more money have left the business (Greg Amos). Some left the Coast to further love interests and have ended up happily married (Jenny Wagler and Brent Richter). And lucky for me, three of the best are still here (Ian Jacques, Christine Wood and John Gleeson) and continue to inspire me every day.
I’m in awe of the people who contributed to my salary over these past years. We’ve had and continue to have some fantastic sales people. They’re professionals and it’s through their hard work our paper is possible. I owe them a lot.
While most of you are very familiar with our editorial staff and sales folks, there are several people who work behind the scenes that make a huge contribution to our success. Our production department and the circulation department make the paper look good and ensure it gets into your hands. I won’t name them because for the most part they’re happy to labour outside the public eye. Suffice to say they’ve made my job much easier every day.
And finally the best part of this job has been interacting with the great people of the Sunshine Coast. I’ve met some absolutely wonderful people over the course of the years. It’s been my privilege to bring many of their stories to their fellow citizens. And to every one of you who has ever stopped me in the street to say how much you love our paper, I’d like to say thank you. You made getting up just a little easier every day. Cheers.
