After 40 years in professional journalism, I have reached the point that calls for me to write a goodbye letter to subscribers of Today’s Veterinary Business, to my colleagues here at the North American Veterinary Community, and to several hundred writers and other contributors whose bylines have appeared in this magazine. When you read this, I will have retired.
I spent more than half my career in newspaper editing, first in Toledo, Ohio, and a few years later in Orange County, California. Getting out of daily publishing, I landed at another veterinary trade journal. In 2017, NAVC invited me to create and edit a magazine focused on business, leadership, and personal wellness — one serving veterinarians, hospital owners, practice managers, clinic staff, and decision makers from across the industry.
Not having an extensive veterinary background, I knew I needed to find people working in the profession who could write authoritatively — and often — about their world. That’s why this magazine is mostly columns.
Accompanying me on this remarkable ride since the fall of 2017 and through 53 issues are four current columnists: Dr. Natalie Marks (Fearless),
Dr. Amanda Donnelly (Talk the Talk), Mark Cushing (Politics & Policy), and Dr. Bob Lester (Creative Disruption).
To columnists and other writers past and present: Thank you for sharing your expertise with readers and for your trust in me and this magazine. Without you, Today’s Veterinary Business would not have grown into the respected publication it is today, nor would it have earned the dozens of awards it has received.
I’ll sign off by introducing my successor as editor, someone many of you have met, heard of, or read: Sarah Rumple Mahan. The immediate past president of VetPartners, she has written 26 articles for this magazine, including eight cover stories. When I started planning my retirement, I quickly realized the ideal candidate to replace me was someone I had known for years.