A thank you: Thoughts on a career at Kentucky Living

Chris Perry has lent me this space to write a farewell column.

July 2 I retire after nearly 20 years as Kentucky Living editor, and I have a lot of people to thank for such a long time in one of the best jobs in the world.

At the top of the list is you, of course. A magazine needs readers, and I know from our surveys, and your letters, e-mails, and phone calls, that what’s printed on these pages makes a difference in your life.

Next to be thankful for is your local electric co-op, that subscribes to Kentucky Living on your behalf. Your co-op knows that as an owner of your electric utility, you need access to the knowledge and awareness of this key to modern life. Kentucky Living offers that information, as well as a connection to the local, state, and national communities that make a difference to all of us.

I’m proud of that support, and proud to have been a part of a unique and important piece of life in Kentucky.

I’m proud that Kentucky Living stands for civility. In a social and media world where offensiveness too-often seems to be the price of admission, you can proudly leave Kentucky Living on your coffee table for your 8-year-old son or 80-year-old mother.

I’m proud to have been part of the co-op voice for sometimes impossible-seeming energy solutions. Kentucky’s coal has provided jobs and low-cost energy for decades. Environmental concerns make this one of the most vexing public policy puzzles of our time. Electric co-ops aggressively offer ways to be more energy efficient, use renewable energy, and seek political agreement.

I’m proud to have been a part of championing a form of business in which the customers own the company. A co-op scholar once told me, “Owning something adds dignity to life. Co-ops add dignity to life.”

I’m proud to have been a part of a staff, management, and leadership that will continue and improve on these traditions.

Editors might retire, but writers don’t. I’ll be at a keyboard, and hoping we’ll still be in touch as you watch for stories about co-ops, energy, and Kentucky.