Losing “Little Mo”
December 23, 2008 at 9:35 am Tina Hay 3 comments
Don't try to read this tiny version—you'll get your Jan-Feb issue soon enough!
Today’s our last day before the University shuts down for a week-long holiday break. We’re gorging on the Garrett’s popcorn that a colleague sent us as a holiday gift, and trying to get some things taken care of for the March-April issue (which we’ll start work on in earnest after we get back). And we’re also trying not to notice that today is Maureen Harmon’s last day.
Mo (Penn State Behrend, class of 2000) has been a part of the magazine staff since 2001; she’s one of our two senior editors. But when the new year starts, she’ll begin a new job as editor of the Denison University magazine, in Granville, Ohio. My good friend Paul Pegher, the current editor of that magazine, is stepping up to a broader role at Denison and recruited Mo to replace him as editor. It’s a great career move for Little Mo (that’s what we call her—don’t ask me why, because I don’t remember anymore!), but needless to say it’s a big loss to us—and to you, as readers. She has done so many great things for The Penn Stater in her time here.
I talk about all of this in some depth in my editor’s column for the January-February issue, which should be mailing in the next week, so I won’t go on at great length here. Suffice it to say that Mo has been an uncommonly good staff member and we will all miss her something fierce. We’ll also miss seeing her husband, Nate (also Class of 2000), and their little boy, Sam. Luckily we have iChat on our Macs and will be able to talk with them by video chat from time to time. In the meantime there have already been some tears in the office this morning and I’m sure there will be more before the day is over.
Tina Hay, editor
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1. Whistle Pig | December 24, 2008 at 3:47 pm
You’re not kidding that’s a great step up for her. DU is a spectacular LAC and their magazine’s won numerous top prizes over the past 4 or 5 years w/ CASE. Granville is the kind of idyllic college town State College used to be and now can only pretends to be in the literature. And it’s close to a major airport w/ the absolute best homemade custard shop on the planet …Whit’s. And while not the massive numbers of achieving alums, there are plenty, especially in the communications, PR, drama fields, to write about. Perhaps she’ll help to make the magazine a bit more layman friendly, less heady, para-intellectual, artsy fartsy in tone.
Undoubtedly she’ll be stunned at recovering the pleasures of being in an effort that more resembles a great team vs. an IBM bureaucracy. Still, like your piece, she’ll find herself oft explaining “where the hell’s Granville, Ohio, and why would you EVER wanna leave Happy Valley for there … or anywhere. ” And it might be a momentary downer trading in the granite Nittany Lion and his roar for the squawk of the Big Red Turkey Buzzard, DU’s fierce mascot! Seems when the buzzards return to Hinckley, the vast majority end their spring journey on the hill in Granville.
Good luck, you’ll love it. We have.
btw, the DU frosh dean is an IT prof from State College. His mom and dad both worked at Lion U and his sis was a great hooper there. Kretchmar’s the name.
Good luck l’il Mo! Go Big RED!
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