Notes from the Editor’s Desk

After three years as managing editor of First Things , Mary Rose Somarriba is leaving us. She’s moving to a certain provincial city in the South where the government of the United States is located. We’ll miss her smile, enthusiasm, and dedication. And we also appreciate the talents of Meghan Duke, our new managing editor. Graduate of Thomas Aquinas College and veteran of the publication arm of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Meghan has been with the magazine for two years, first as a junior fellow and then as an assistant editor. This is her first issue at the helm, and I have the distinct impression that she not only is extraordinarily capable but also enjoys the prospect of giving everyone deadlines.

Our letters section in this issue is particularly full and lively. It’s a testimony to the intelligence”and feisty character”of First Things readers. We welcome your interventions into the public debate. Rapier thrusts are to be preferred to broadsword strokes, though we’re certainly not averse to sharp criticisms. Do write when roused, and send your letters (up to 400 words) to ft@firstthings.com, or, if you relish the more deliberate pace of the mail, to our address in New York.

On the evening of May 18, Cardinal Francis George came to the First Things office as part of our series of public readings, lectures, and discussion. He presented some of the main themes of his new and timely book, God in Action. His talk was true to form: intellectually precise and spiritually hard-hitting. If you live in the New York area and would like to be invited to our public events this fall, please write to ft@firstthings.com. Next up: New York University law professor Joseph Weiler on September 6th lecturing on the question of whether we have a right to freedom from religion.

The month of May also saw the annual meeting in New York of the magazine’s advisory council. This group serves as the intellectual conscience for the magazine, and I’d like to thank them all for their unreserved commitment to the future of First Things and for their frank and helpful advice. Their names are on our masthead, and, if you know any of them, please add your thanks as well.

The meeting culminated in a dinner at the residence of Archbishop Timothy Dolan, chief pastor of the Catholic Church in New York. The archbishop’s hospitality, which is as formidable as it is warm, was a grand way to end our deliberations. Many thanks.