For a magazine to become another year older represents a rather passive milestone. It is sort of like anyone's birthday. Barring sickness or being run over by a speeding oligarch's black Mercedes, they come with regularity.
With that in mind, no glitzy celebrations are planned this month for The Ukrainian Observer's fifth year. Such would be rather out of character for a magazine born of pique and forged through the years by patience and often-iconoclastic grit.
A few might say stubbornness as well. There has often been an element of weirdness, which I refer to as serendipity, for it sounds slightly better.
Some probably felt we should have been tackling more substantive issues, perhaps having in mind state tyranny, the raging wars (anywhere) and famines wherever they might be found. We could have, but our influence would be marginal at best. That's an exaggeration, for it would really be like putting out fires with an eye-dropper.
But, we have picked battles, minor territories of sustained rage.
Any regular reader will remember the successful exchange the UO had with the U.S. Embassy over what we felt was its treatment of a group of Ukrainians battling the seas and the elements. All they wanted to do was bring the word of a new nation, Ukraine, to the world, and were hampered by straitjacket embassy bureaucracy.
More recently, there was the brush up with a local watering hole, O'Brien's, that banned the magazine, but then asked for its return. While a minor skirmish, a point was proven and truce made.
It overflows with Observers most days.
Like Don Quixote, our windmills loomed large to us, and besides, our main goal has always been simply to stir the pot a little, and at the same time publish a magazine that was interesting to most of you.
The team which brings you the colorful covers, hopefully insightful articles, historical remembrances, and personality profiles will celebrate that fifth anniversary around a table at O'Brien's at our usual, weekly meeting.
We call it The Saturday Club, and the planning sessions themselves have a rotating attendance, generally my brother Glen Willard, as executive editor, Scott Lewis, editor-at-large and me, the publisher. Managing editor John Marone joins from time to time.
For the record, everyone has the same British breakfast, except for John who merely downs a good-sized bucket of Coca-Cola while ideas are being tossed about. This, however, does not mean we are of the same mind.
Comparing it to American politics - and by accident of birth we are all from the United States - Glen is a conservative red state, while Scott and I are varying shades of liberal democrat blue. John is, well, I really don't have the slightest idea about his politics.
Several years ago, I wrote that The Ukrainian Observer was The Willard Group's "magnificent obsession," which, admittedly, is purple wording that soars up there with those Churchillian phrases. But, to me, it is magnificent. And, it is nothing short of obsession.
In the beginning, annoyed at the cost of placing an ad for our company in a local English-language newspaper, I decided we could publish our own magazine for less cost. I was delusional, and should have been committed. That was many tens of thousands of dollars ago.
The person most instrumental with The Observer over the years has been brother Glen, who has been connected with both the editorial content and the mechanics of getting from idea to print. Marone, formerly with BBC, was named editor late last year.
Lewis, former business and later managing editor of the Kyiv Post, has served as editor of our publication, but was pressed into other duties when we found that public relations ideas pop from his mind like fireworks after a Kyiv Dynamo win. The day job for several of us, after all, is an advertising and public relations agency.
Toward the end of last year, a new face came on the scene, something like a new character popping up on the British soap opera, EastEnders. His name is Gerald Harty, and the big guy has stepped up to the plate as advertising manager. Robert Reed, other than being the character of The Observer (thought up originally by David Payne, managing partner for advertising for The Willard Group) serves as circulation manager.
For the entire period of the magazine, the principle designer has been Nina Savchuk, who was brought on full-time following a brief freelance period. Other than Glen, Marone, Lewis and yours truly, the most prolific writers over time have been Professor Vladimir Senchenko and Sergei Kharchenko. However, dozens of people -both expats and Ukrainians - have contributed over time. Lest I forget, our translator, Nazar Kudrevskyy would not forgive me if I left out his name - so there it is.
Over the years, we have steadfastly stood by several principles:
We will accept no pay for stories printed.
While we strive for accuracy, those interviewed do not see the stories before going into print.
While The Willard Group newsletter is printed in the center section and when space is available company ads appear, there is a studious attempt to keep the founding company and the magazine separate.
n We believe in keeping the editorial integrity of the cover, thus, while sought by potential advertisers from time to time, it remains ad free.
Though certainly not prudes, we made a decision early on not to accept escort service and other similar ads. The magazine has been known to be a teaching tool for Ukrainian youngsters.
For much of its existence, the magazine has been a labor of love, and each year we have added more resources into it, not less. Recently, a marvelous thing happened: It started making a profit.
We admit The Ukrainian Observer has had a rather curious DNA over time. Once, a rival magazine publisher suggested that it really had no target audience, and wondered if we might want to fold it into her publication.
My only reply was: "Gee, if it has no target audience, who's picking up those 15,000 or so copies?" Her magazine folded soon thereafter.
So, as we celebrate quietly that fifth birthday this month, wish us luck, and pass on any thoughts you might have to make The Ukrainian Observer a better magazine. While every issue might not be star-studded, we seek improvements.
Truth be known, we consider our magazine a work in progress, and always hope it will remain so.
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