It’s time to return to Taos and the stories that living there inspired. In this post, I write about being hired as the editor-in-chief of The Taos News — a rewarding and lively experience. Lively? Oh, yes.
When we moved to Taos in 2006, I worked part-time in a fine arts gallery but sales were a challenge given we were rolling toward a recession. I started freelance writing for The Taos News. Writing news and feature stories was imbedded in me. After all, I worked for a newspaper back east for 21 years as a reporter, columnist, and editor.
A year later, I was hired as a full-time copy editor in what I would call a Taos moment. On the same day I was offered two other jobs — at Red Wing Books, which publishes books about alternative healing, and Millicent Rogers Museum, which interestingly has a link to my hometown of Fairhaven, Mass.
The Taos News may be a weekly, but it covered the heck out of Taos and the surrounding area. Over the years, it has won many state and national awards. I credit the paper’s owner, Robin Martin, who emphasizes strong coverage. She also owns the Santa Fe New Mexican and at the time, Sangre de Cristo Chronicle. Robin was The Taos News editor when her father, the late Robert Moody McKinney, owned the paper. Chris Baker was and is still The Taos News’ publisher.
The editorial department had a dozen full-time employees. As the paper’s only copy editor, my job was to put a pair of eyes on every darn story before the paginators designed the pages.
My desk was in a large cubicle I shared with the sports reporter and Jerry Padilla, the paper’s Spanish editor. The sports reporter was often busy covering games, so it was typically Jerry with me. He would check stories to see if I had properly included accents that were part of the unique Norteño dialect of Spanish spoken in Northern New Mexico. Jerry was obsessed about that and other things.
I was named assistant editor in July 2008 and a few weeks later, Gerald Garner announced he was leaving. I knew I could do the job, so I applied. Robin gave me three weeks as the interim editor to show what I could do.
I recall being on deadline to put the paper to bed on the third week when Jerry began bugging me about an alleged Big Foot siting in a Southern state. The man was fixed on Big Foot and chupacabras, believing they existed. Finally, I told Jerry, “Unless they find Big Foot in Taos, I’m not interested.” Disappointed, he left me alone. But we made deadline.
The big day for the interview with Robin and Chris arrived. I understood the choice was down to an editor flying in that day from Florida and me. It turned into one of those days that seemed to have magical elements. Robin’s car had a mechanical problem, so we were to meet at her home closer to Santa Fe instead of her coming to Taos. First, we would have lunch at a restaurant.
Chris drove. I recall him passing several cars on a straightway, so we wouldn’t be late. At the restaurant, I maybe had two bites as I answered oh-so-many questions. Then we went to Robin’s home, where I was greeted by the many peacocks she had on her land. More questions. Previously, I had to mark up three editions of the paper for possible improvements. I recall her telling me the other finalist had been much tougher. The pages practically bled red ink.
As for the other finalist, his plane was forced to turn around because a passenger got seriously ill on the flight. So, he arrived much later for his interview.
In the news story about my hiring, Chris Baker said the paper had over 250 applicants from as far as Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada and all over the U.S., but he and Robin were excited about hiring from within. “Joan Livingston has a big range of experience with her previous paper, plus she ‘gets’ it, she understands how Taos works.”
Being the top editor for The Taos News was a wonderful experience largely because Northern New Mexico is such an interesting place to cover. I was expected to write hard-hitting editorials, one of Robin’s requirements, that often prompted open displeasure from those I criticized. You’ll get to read a lot more about that in future En Taos posts — plus observations and experiences about this special place.
ABOUT THE PHOTO ABOVE: That is an untouched photo I took one day of our home in Taos. Yes, I will be writing about that.