My mother had a quilted saying framed on her wall while I was growing up. It said: “Ye know it takes a mighty good man to be better than none.” I wasn’t 100 percent sure what all that implied, but I figured it meant I had better at least put the toilet seat down. Maury Wald is a mighty good man who has raised his child called Over the Mountain Journal from its birth 34 years ago through many highs and a few lows. His willingness to allow me to keep publishing after his retirement makes me wonder if there is something wrong with him? The truth is, I feel a little like Kalen DeBoer must have felt taking over Nick Saban’s job. My specialty in the past has been to take over something that could not go much lower and then think of myself as a hero for not making it worse. Yet while the jury is still out on Kalen DeBoer and on me, I am so excited to be involved with this paper, and I promise to work my heart out to deliver interesting, entertaining and relevant information to our community, and value to our advertisers. And I’m going to have excellent help. Editor Barry Wise Smith and Designer Claire Cormany will join regulars Jordan Wald, Julie Trammell Edwards, Gail Kidd and our wonderful writers to help publish this paper twice a month. And if Maury doesn’t move to Tahiti and drink cocktails out of a hurricane glass with an umbrella, I’m hoping he might continue to help out a bit. Pray for us if you can.
–LEE HURLEY
