A New Way to Show Off Our Talented People
A few weeks back, a fan of Pat Foster-Turley’s Wildways columns couldn’t find it and complained.
And well she might. Wildways was there, but our new software had pushed it pretty far down, and our faithful reader gave up before she got there.
Along with Pat, we have other talented writers, and we don’t want their work to be hiding beneath yet another parking discussion at City Hall.
Now, the basic layout of our home page (not the summary you get in the mail, but the home page that used to be called the front page back in the print days) is three columns. We had some stuff on the right-hand column that didn’t need to be there, so we erased all that and created something we’re calling “Showcase” to run all the way down and make sure you can find popular columnists and read them without extra clicks.
Here is the showcase schedule:
It starts on Wednesday with a brand new, but well-known writer: Dickie Anderson. Yes, Off the Porch has come to the Observer. Dickie is multi-talented and also will be taking over – and greatly expanding – our arts coverage. And if you’ve never read Off the Porch, (formerly From the Porch) you’ll soon be addicted to its light-hearted comments on life.
We know that the advent of AI is going to have a lot of computer users (including us) scratching their heads, and we should find some help. Literally everyone we asked said we want Deryck Burnett. He is the highly regarded CEO of Megabite Computer Services on Sadler Road and has been sending clear, simple advice to his clients for years. Now all our readers will be getting that advice, too. His advice will publish on Thursdays.
Pat Foster Turley’s stories about nature (and very nice photographs) have charmed readers for years and will continue with us on Fridays.
On Saturdays, you’ll still be reading about restaurants thanks to Dylan Bailey, who is not one of your typical hoity-toity restaurant reviewers. Yes, he tells you what the high cuisine people are up to, but he has also found plenty of excellent meals at ordinary prices – and even a few food trucks that might do one thing but do it exceptionally well.
Our Sunday columnist is Linda Hart Green, a veteran Northern Baptist minister, now retired. And no, she’s not writing Sunday homilies. She is a very sharp observer of the world around her and asks a lot of questions about that world – questions that make you think.
We have saved some room on Mondays and Tuesdays for other writers (ours or volunteers) who often have something interesting to say but aren’t inclined to be regular, weekly columnists.
And here’s a closing note about one of our two marine biologists, Lauri deGaris. As of Oct. 1 her last name reverts to the one she was born with: Lauri Holton. It won’t change a thing about her deep knowledge of nature.
