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Summer-Fall 2001
Vol. 64, No. 1

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News and Facts

Rochester Review--University of Rochester magazine

Wherever You Go, There UR!

Review's Longtime 'Voice' Retires

Bond

Some changes at a university produce larger seismic tremors than others. The appointment of a dean, the announcement of a new president-these are all cause for great excitement (and sometimes alarm). There are other transitions that are less noticeable at the surface, but nonetheless very significant.

The last issue to reach you was the final one to be produced under the auspices of Margaret Bond, who has retired after 22 years as editor (and, remarkably, after more than 50 years at the University, a tenure that encompasses six of Rochester's nine presidents). Thus, we have said goodbye to an important University voice-one you may have not have realized you were hearing. She has published 71 issues, edited hundreds of feature stories, and dealt decisively with the minutiae that make up the printed package we call Rochester Review.

Colleagues in University Public Relations could always expect to find Margaret ensconced in her corner office of Wallis Hall, amidst an organized clutter of projects-the story getting her present scrutiny for clarity, voice, and interest; folders of photos; piles of books sent in by alumni authors or their agents; newspaper clippings that served as a treasure trove of leads for future issues; reference books ready at hand as she plied her trade. The overhead fluorescent lighting never did work, for all we knew, since she never used it. A desk lamp sufficed, even into the evening hours she usually worked, but the atmosphere was cozy rather than dim.

A former Dartmouth magazine editor has said that you don't need a big staff to put out a high-quality magazine, but you need to be (in the words of Peter Drucker) a "monomaniac on a mission." That's not quite the right description in this case, but Margaret did hold steadfastly to her vision for the "voice" that Rochester Review ought to have. Various writers have grumbled over the years about her assiduous editing, but in the quiet of night they would admit to themselves that she had improved upon what they had done and what ultimately bore their bylines. On the other hand, Margaret was unfailingly flexible in making sure that Review reflected the needs of the institution it serves. (In an environment as complex and intellectual as a university, the task can be almost impossibly complicated: Everyone has a credible viewpoint, and all of them are right.)

Always a voracious reader, and a daughter of University alums, Margaret was not even of college age when she began snatching up Rochester Review and reading it as soon as it arrived in the mail-"I would read anything," she says-long before she had any notion that one day she would be putting it together.

Margaret began working at the University library upon graduation ("Well, what else was a French major to do?" was her recent comment), but she soon gravitated to the then-named Public Information Office. When the Memorial Art Gallery decided to establish a public relations office in the Sixties, she moved there-first half time, and then full time. She was tapped as University editor in 1979.

Margaret postponed her retirement plans to attend to the needs of the Sesquicentennial. Indeed, in her last year she held down the equivalent of two full-time jobs-as Review editor and as editor of the pictorial history Beside the Genesee (written by Jan LaMartina Waxman '81N). There is no question that the latter work (which has won national recognition) is likely to stand the test of time as an accurate and informative overview of 150 years at Rochester. The reason is that there is no other editor who possesses the comprehensive perspective on University history enjoyed by Margaret-and, now, enjoyed by readers of that history.

What Margaret has done to and with her various writers over the years-made them sound better than they would have on their own-she has done, in a way, with the University. She has shown the institution truthfully, but in its very best light, to Review readers. For us in the public relations office, she served as the ultimate authority on style, grammar, and good taste. With an unerring eye for editorial detail, she kept us all honest. In sum, she was an editor who simply would not settle. That was a benefit to all of us.

The good news is that the magazine is now in the capable hands of Scott Hauser. Scott joined our office in 1998 from the University of Iowa, where he was assistant director of news services. As one might expect with a change of editorship, you should look for editorial changes, subtle or striking, as the issues continue to reach you. In addition, College (arts, sciences, and engineering) alumni will start to see a variety of other publications focusing on that particular academic division.

Still, as our most accomplished wordsmith retires, we will all be a bit at a loss for words. Our sincere thanks to an editor whose career came out of a lifelong love for her profession and her University, and for making sure, time and again, that the magazine came out right.

Robert Kraus
Associate Vice President
University Public Relations

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