Here at the magazine offices, we greeted the arrival of the new year with an unusual amount of anticipation. That's because 2000 marks a momentous chapter in the life of Johns Hopkins Magazine: our 50th anniversary. Even as we were putting to bed this February issue of the magazine, we were hard at work on a special anniversary edition that will hit your mailboxes in April.

Late last fall, I picked up the phone to start tracking down past staffers of the magazine--editors, writers, designers, photographers. My motive: to effect a literary reunion of sorts, by asking them to contribute their talents to our golden anniversary issue. I was a little apprehensive. After all, many of them were perfect strangers to me. And a good number had gone on to top jobs in the world of publishing--jobs with punishing schedules and demanding deadlines. How would they react to my request?

I needn't have worried. To a person, everyone I called responded with warmth and an easy familiarity. Several told me their years at Johns Hopkins Magazine turned out to be the most professionally fulfilling of their lives. Those who had cut their journalistic teeth here spoke of mentoring relationships with extraordinary editors. And nearly everyone had a favorite anecdote--or two, or three--to share. My favorite: founding editor Corbin Gwaltney recalled building the magazine's first desks by hand and laying the floor tile himself. (He preferred to spend the fledgling publication's precious dollars on nationally known photographers, rather than office supplies.)

Perhaps most heartening of all was the number of magazine alums who (cheerfully!) agreed to be a part of the golden anniversary edition.

So, folks, enjoy the issue you hold in your hands, then sit back in anticipation of April's. I can promise you've got a treat in store.

Sue De Pasquale, Editor

RETURN TO FEBRUARY 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS.