[15 years ago this week, I started this here public scholarly blog. There have been lots of twists and turns since, and the best ones have been aided & abetted by wonderful folks. So for my 15th (!) anniversary series, I wanted to pay tribute to a handful of those moments and people, leading up to a special weekend tribute to my first and best reader!]
I’ve written many times in this space about my Saturday Evening Post editor Jen Bortel, and what working with her on my Considering History column for the last 7.75 years (8th anniversary in early January!) has meant to me. No matter how far along we get in our careers, it seems to be the case that most of our opportunities come by necessity from our own initiative; so for Jen to reach out to me to recruit me to write for the Post remains one of my absolute career highlights. And that’s not even the best thing Jen has done for my career—for that, I would point to her consistently thoughtful editing work with my column drafts, not only to improve my style and voice in the ways I discussed in yesterday’s post (although that for sure), but also and especially to keep me thinking about the Post’s audience and how I can best reach them. Public scholarship requires us to really engage the public, any and all audiences we can find, and there could be no better editor for that process than what Jen has been for me.
Last anniversary tribute tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Please feel free to say hi and share any blog responses or ideas in comments!
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