For Openers
Carl Wheeley
Lots of people have asked what will happen with the magazine now that Bill Winter has retired.
First off, Bill is still with us, although he has a new role. Turn a few more pages and you'll see the beginning of an exciting new feature called "Just For the Fun of It," which Bill writes as a contributing editor. It talks about interesting kinds of things that guys just like you are doing (but you will see, some of this is far-out!). Actually the column has no bounds, though we wouldn't expect to see much, if any, that pertains to contest fliers and the contest circuit.
Do note what Bill says about needing reader input. He can draw on stuff in his own head for a little while, but he will soon need a flow of information from readers to keep it going and to be really informative. Have you found a new and better way of doing something? Have you tried an offbeat project, and what were the results? Have you discovered a new solution to a modeling problem (or even re-discovered an old solution)? There are zillions of things that guys are doing that are of interest to others. Send them to Bill (and please do include pictures and drawings where applicable) either to the MA editorial office for forwarding, or direct:
Bill Winter 4330 Alta Vista Dr. Fairfax, VA 22030
By the way, MA pays $5 apiece for pictures and ideas used by contributing editors in their columns. They're all in need of a steady flow of pictures and good information, so keep this in mind.
In other areas, Bill Winter's influence will be felt on the magazine for many months to come. That's because, when we knew Bill would be retiring, we asked him to keep buying as if he were to continue being editor, up to the last minute, all the good articles, construction and otherwise, that were submitted. The fact that he left with a substantial inventory of projects—as much as six months' worth in some categories—makes for a much easier transition.
We're already into a transition phase now, though it may not be final. For the present, Carl Wheeley is both editor and publisher, and some of the internal functions have been shuffled around a bit. For instance, Ross McMullen (assistant editor) will continue to process most of the regular column submissions, which keep him very busy in the first half of each month, and he has taken over the "Competition Newsletter" from Wheeley, which is mostly done in the first part of the month.
Various minor adjustments will be made to duties of other MA staffers. Others include:
- Herb Silbermann, art director
- Johnnie Shipley, publications assistant
- Debbie Madsen, editorial assistant
There's the possibility of additional shifting around of personnel duties depending on magazine policies established by the AMA Board of Directors or the Executive Council at its meeting in August. Frankly, without a bigger effort, this magazine cannot be expected to continue on the present basis of five staff members. Thus, if the Executive Council decides to allow us to produce a magazine of better quality, an additional editorial employee will be sought. No determination has been made yet as to what level that will be.
Basically, you can expect the magazine to be mainly the same as when Bill Winter was editor. Of course there will be fine-tuning month to month just as there always has been. What may be reactivated is the need for editorial space; I have the notion that readers would prefer a how-to feature instead of the editor/publisher's message in some regards. The present mix the magazine has, I hope, will also be developed further. No basic changes are contemplated.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
