I grew up running around these shores when my family visited my aunt and uncle, Alvin and Rachel Kirby. Every summer, Uncle Alvin took us to the printing plant to watch a press run of Aunt Rachel’s belovedGazette.
Every summer, we spent days in the newsroom, watching atrue newswoman in action. There was always the thrill of telling a story under deadline. In many ways, theGazetteis a citizen of Sea Blue Beach.
Aunt Rachel hoped my sister or I would take her place as editor-in-chief one day. But life had other plans for us.
Yet our affection and belief in this newspaper remains unwavering. Since Aunt Rachel’s death two years ago, we’ve made every effort to keep the paper going. Uncle Alvin’s printing plant sold years ago, and theGazettemoved production to Panama City.
Keeping a print paper alive in the internet age has not been easy. Many small-town newspapers have not survived. For theGazette, we reduced our print days to Sunday and Wednesday.
Yet Sea Blue Beach remains special because youalllove print news. The Kirby family remains committed to the stories of Sea Blue Beach. In that vein, please welcome our new editor-in-chief, Emery Quinn.
A native of Ohio and graduate of Ohio State University’s School of Journalism, she spent eight years on staff at theCleveland Free Voice, eventually rising to the title of associate editor-in-chief. We have every confidence in her abilities to take theGazetteinto the next decade as a microlocal news source. Please give her a warm SBB welcome.
From: [email protected]
Re: New editor
How can someone who didn’t grow up here love theGazetteand our town as much as one of us?
From: [email protected]
Re: New editor
Welcome, Emery Quinn. I think you’ll bring a fresh perspective.
From: [email protected]
Re: New editor
I don’t care who is editor. Are y’all going to fix the missing ad problem?
3
EMERY
She’d only doubted her decision to pack up her Honda Accord and drive nine hundred miles south to the north Florida coast a few times. Maybe a thousand times. But she kept her foot on the gas anyway.
The Quinn family had given her a lovely send-off, inviting her friends and former colleagues from theFreeVoice. Lou caught her before the end of the night to give her a boost of confidence.
“I’m proud of you, Emery Quinn.”
“You think I can do it, Lou?”
“Would I have recommended you to Elliot if I didn’t think you could? TheFree Voiceonly survived those final years because of you.”
“That’s because I knew you were right there if I needed you.”
He gave her a soft chuck on the chin. “I’m still here if you need me. But you won’t. You’ll do a good job there, and in a couple of years, you’ll write your ticket to any major metropolitan paper.”
“Thank you.” Was that her goal? To land at a major metropolitan paper? She’d not thought about much beyond this next year. Mom’s death taught her how uncertain life could be.
Dad and Joanna gave her a piggy bank of cash. Ava gave Emery her choice of possible pinks for the bridesmaids’ gowns—all of them in the bubble gum, Pepto-Bismol family. When Emery picked the brightest and loudest pink, Ava caved.
