from the editor

Writing from religious roots

There have been a lot of obvious changes in this magazine in recent years—a new name, new standing features, new design, paper that makes reading our pages easier on your eyes—but the most fundamental change has been almost subliminal: The editors and writers who have joined us in this time have deep religious roots and have made UU World more deeply religious, more UU.

Senior Editor Christopher L. Walton and Managing Editor Jane Greer have degrees from Harvard Divinity School, and Chris is moving toward ordination as a UU minister; Manuscript Editor Kenneth Sutton is an active Quaker; Donald E. Skinner, a contributing editor, is a virtuoso UU church volunteer and editor of the UUA's InterConnections newsletter for congregational leaders; our advertising and production manager, Kathy Todd, majored in religious studies at Brown University; Teri Schwartz, our advertising and production assistant, is a Harvard seminarian preparing for UU ministry; and our editorial assistant, Sonja Cohen, grew up active in UU fellowships in Washington State.

And a parade of Unitarian Universalist journalists and writers marched into our pages. At a recent retreat the staff decided that our contributors have become so interesting that the little biographical notes we append to their articles are no longer adequate. So in this issue we begin featuring our writers, artists, and photographers in space right after the Table of Contents. To name but a few of the new contributors from past issues:

Neil Shister, a former Time magazine national correspondent and editor and publisher of Atlanta magazine, lives in Washington, D.C., where he attends the All Souls Church, Unitarian. Neil has written two cover stories and is at work on a third.

Mary Pipher, psychologist and author of six books including the bestseller Reviving Ophelia, is a member of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, Nebraska. Mary has contributed two cover stories as well as essays and book reviews.

David Zucchino, a Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, is a member of the Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, Pennsylvania. David has written three cover stories and contributed a chilling on-the-ground report as an embedded reporter during the invasion of Iraq.

The Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, a former editor at Scholastic and Ms. magazines and The New York Times Book Review, launched the Reflections section and Bookshelf essays while in divinity school. Now minister of the Fourth Universalist Society in New York City, McNatt remains a contributing editor.

Space forces me to omit many fascinating contributors, including some dear friends—and now I'd like to ask your help in lengthening the list.

Do you know UUs who are accomplished writers, illustrators, or photographers, or are you one yourself? We are particularly interested in writers specializing in environmental topics—we publish way too little on this crucial issue—and writers who live on the West Coast. Please step forward or send me your nominations of professionals who should join our fine parade of contributors.

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