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September 26, 2007

Goodbye and Thanks: My Farewell Column

(From this week's issue.)

For the longest time, I never imagined that I’d have to write a piece like this. When I was hired to be the editor of The Pulse prior to its launch in the fall of 2003, I had visions of editing this paper forever. I figured the paper would get better and better, its circulation and revenue would increase, and maybe, just maybe, we’d find ourselves, say, mixing it up at national industry functions alongside the papers that inspired us to launch The Pulse in the first place.

And all of those things happened.

Well, except for the part where I edit the paper forever.

While I’ll likely still be poking my head in from time to time, this week’s issue marks my last as editor. Pulse co-publisher Michael Kull is taking over my chair.

My time at The Pulse has been equal parts exciting, frustrating, challenging, rewarding, and exhausting. I’ve worked with more talented people than I can name, have received more than my fair share of both praise and flack, and have watched our paper go from being nothing more than an idea on a notepad to being voted in as a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in less than four years. It has been everything—and nothing—like I expected it would be. Most of all, it has been incredibly fun. I will be forever grateful to our publishers, Zack Cooper and Michael Kull, for entrusting me with their paper. It has truly been an honor. And while I am leaving The Pulse for a new and exciting opportunity in the world of custom publishing, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the alternative press.

Looking back over 196 issues, the memories are voluminous and varied: Interviewing scores of