Waving the Red Flag

A goodbye from our departing editor in chief, Brian Howard.

by Brian Howard

When I first set foot in City Paper 's offices as a 22-year-old in 1995, I was hoping to secure a gig as an unpaid paste-up intern in the art department. Back then, newspaper pages weren't sent to the presses via PDF; they were printed out, run through a machine that coated the back with hot wax, and affixed to cardboard flats. It wasn't rocket science, but fingertips unfazed by an occasional dip in molten paraffin came in handy. Just out of La Salle University where I'd endured the same dangers as editor of The Collegian, I was dying to get a crack at pitching CD reviews to the staff of what felt like the coolest publication in the world.

Despite guaranteed editorial internships at other publications, I jumped at art director Jen Linden's offer. I saw it as my opportunity to learn how the paper worked, and to rub elbows with the paper's big four: David Warner, Neil Gladstone, Margit Detweiler and Howard Altman.

When, in 1996, I was offered a job as a $17,000-per-year editorial assistant/de facto receptionist, I'm pretty sure I did a flip. I've held a lot of positions since. Music editor. Special projects editor. Web editor. Senior editor. Editor in chief of City Paper was a title I wasn't sure I was ready for in 2008, and it's been the one with, by far, the most headaches. But all those Advil moments were offset by the exhilaration of getting to lead this staff and this paper through, as the Chinese proverb goes, some incredibly interesting times. But of all the honors, perhaps the biggest has been having a chance to talk directly, in this space, to CP's readers.

David Warner, who was managing editor when I started, had a saying. Whenever the staff would debate whether we were getting too deep or brainy he'd say, "Never underestimate City Paper readers."

It's been a rare gift to come to work all these years to put out a product for people who think about the city. I've always thought of City Paper as a community paper, one for people for whom living and working and playing in Philadelphia means something, for whom being in the thick of it all is worth something. As I leave to take the reins at Red Flag Media's Grid, an urban sustainability magazine, and Cowbell, a national music mag, I hope you'll follow me (brian.howard@gridphilly.com). I also expect you'll continue to do your part — along with CP's staff, who remind me of the titans who mentored me — in making this publication so vital.

And I'm thrilled to announce that City Paper has just tabbed as my successor Theresa Everline, a St. Joe's grad (and a UNC Park Fellow with an M.A. from Washington University) and a vet of Brownstoner, St. Louis' Riverfront Times, Orlando Weekly and Cairo Today, whose freelance credits (Next American City, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times ... ) could fill the rest of this page.

I can't wait to read what comes next.