Alexandria, VA – This month, I turn 60.
There. I said it. When I started The Zebra in 2010, I was 44, full of ideas, optimism and the charmingly mistaken belief that publishing a community newspaper might be a reasonably manageable undertaking. Sixteen years later, I know better—and I would not trade a minute of it.
This month’s cover gave me an especially good perspective on the whole aging thing. Del Ray’s Pat McArtor turns 100 on October 10, and she is not sitting at home counting candles. She is still singing Thursday nights at St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub with the Not-So-Modern Jazz Quartet, making friends across generations and reminding the rest of us that it is never too late to get dressed, get out and do something you love. Lisa-Helene Lawson’s profile of Pat begins on page 36, and it is a delight.
Then turn to page 9, where we introduce a remarkable group of 100-year-old Alexandrians honored at the City’s Centenarian Celebration. Their lives include military and public service, raising families, making art, traveling the world, volunteering and, in more than one case, refusing to become boring. Their stories continue on page 38.
There is no tidy formula for a long, good life, but this month’s centenarians seem to have a few things in common: stay curious, keep your people close, do something useful, and do not confuse getting older with being finished. That seems like very good advice as I enter a new decade.
At 60, I am grateful to still be writing, still showing up at events around town, still chasing down one more detail before deadline, and still believing that local journalism matters. I have also learned that it takes a village—not just to raise children, but to run a newspaper, build a community and get through life with any grace at all. I have learned, too, that “I am sorry” and “I was wrong” are not signs of weakness. They are often the beginning of getting something right.
Thank you to our writers, photographers, designer, production staff, sales team and delivery folks who put The Zebra in readers’ hands each month. And thank you to our readers, advertisers and friends for staying with us. You have made this little black-and-white-and-read-all-over experiment one of the great privileges of my life.
Here’s to 60. And, with luck, another 40 years.
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