EDITOR’S PAGE

A TIME FOR CHANGE

I was bored with my job. I was tired of writing things that were not challenging to me. (I am one of the legion of idealists for whom the desire to create something meaningful is not just the major pursuit in life, it’s the only pursuit.) It was time for a change.

“Why don’t you try writing something for D Magazine?” my wife asked me. “I’ll bet that if you submitted something, you could write for them on a regular basis.”

So I gave it a shot. Fate had provided me a good topic for my first magazine article. The Fort Worth City Council had run off the city manager and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had declined to print the real story, opting instead for a polite report that could have been pieced together from news releases.

I wrote the gory details. What poured from my typewriter was a document made of pure idealism, the notion that somebody had to print the real truth, or at least the real truth as I saw it. After a couple of days at the typewriter, I turned in my first freelance magazine article.

What followed was a free-lancer’s dream. The day after 1 turned in the story, the managing editor of D, Charles Matthews, called me. “Wick Allison, [the editor], wants to meet you,” he said. “Can you join us for lunch today?”

By 5:30 that afternoon I had signed on as an associate editor of D. My name was on the masthead by the time my “freelance” article was printed.

That was four years ago (almost to the day of this writing.) In the years that have passed, I’ve had the opportunity to grow as a journalist, working in an environment that I didn’t dream would ever exist when I graduated from journalism school 13 years ago.

And I’ve had a chance to see the magazine grow and prosper, becoming a Dallas institution. When I look back at the early issues, a lot of the things we were doing when I signed on at the magazine (and in the years before) seem pretty primitive. There have been a lot of changes that have refined and made it more sophisticated.

But one thing hasn’t changed. We still cling to the iconoclastic idealism that made us what we are. I think the fact that I was asked to be editor 15 months ago is a testimony to that fact.

In the past year, I’ve assembled a staff of which I am quite proud. They do their jobs very well. So well, quite frankly, that I don’t think they need me anymore to look over their shoulders and see that they produce a good publication. In the past few months, the D staff has been doing its job well enough that I’ve been able to spend half my time playing visiting editor for our sister publication, Houston City Magazine.

It is there that I found another challenge. Houston City is, in many ways, what D was eight years ago: A fledgling publication trying to make a name for itself.

So I’m packing for Houston, sorting through a lot of old D Magazine memories as I clean out my desk. Will the original D Magazine concepts work in Houston? I believe they will. I’ll be finding out shortly.

It’s time for a change.



A NEW, BUT

FAMILIAR FACE

One of the reasons it is easy for me to leave a publication to which I have developed a great emotional attachment in the past four years is the knowledge that I am leaving it in good hands. Beginning with the next issue, Lee Cullum will be editor of this magazine.

She has both the credentials and the spirit to be the type of leader D Magazine needs for continued success. Those of you who have lived in Dallas for a while may have originally known her as Lee Clark, who first began appearing on Channel 13’s “Newsroom” television show 12 years ago, and later became its executive producer and moderator. Lee spent a decade with KERA, rising to the position of vice president for public-affairs programming. She’s got the news experience and judgment I think is vital.

And she has an impeccable record of community involvement, serving as chairman of the Dallas Cable Television Board (a position she has resigned to accept this editorship), as a vice president of the Dallas Assembly and on the boards of the Child Guidance Clinic, the YWCA, Charter 100 and the associate board of the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at SMU.

Lee also has the other necessary element for a good editor: enthusiasm.

“I look forward to working in the D tradition of strong journalism combined with a sense of style and a feeling for fun,” says Lee. “We’ll continue our pursuit of the good life because times are precarious and living well is really the best revenge. And we’ll speak with the voice of responsible criticism in our coverage of all that creates culture in Dallas. We’ll be especially interested in politics and the shape of the city. We want to be sure that D and Dallas fulfill their very substantial promise to the future.”



MORE CHANGES

Dining reviews and listings have always been very popular with you, our readers. Consequently, we have spared no effort to bring you the most honest, comprehensive restaurant information we can.

It is in keeping with that policy that we are changing – and expanding – our listing format with this issue.

You’ll notice we are carrying twice as many restaurant listings in this issue as in the past. To accomplish this within the space and time constraints of a monthly publication, we are altering the listing format. The listings no longer will be “mini-reviews,” but will be pure listings, which simply give the culinary highpoints of each restaurant: the specialties, hours, locations and other pertinent information. One aspect of the listing remains the same. There is no relationship between advertising in our magazine and our listings. We recommend all of the restaurants in our listings as being the best of Dallas.

We are also expanding our reviews, which have always appeared at the beginning of the “Dining Out” section. Under our new “Cuisine” format, we’ll open the section with not one but two review articles. One review will deal with new restaurants, while the second will cover a variety of food topics, from wine to cheese to cooking or some other topic designed to help you choose the best cuisine available in this city.

We hope you’ll like our new format, and, as always, we welcome your comments about our guide to good eating.