1989: A LOOK BACK: Meanwhile, at The Weekly (12/31/89)

1989: A LOOK BACK

Meanwhile, at The Weekly

If we at The Weekly were to proclaim 1989 as the year of something, most assuredly we would have to declare it "Year of the Visitor from Ukraine."

Our kinfolk from Ukraine (both in the literal and figurative senses), were everywhere. Many stopped by our offices as well. We were paid visits by scholars, writers, artists, musicians, human rights activists, people's deputies, students, engineers, journalists, families of readers and UNA members, and others.

This, of course, made it easier to bear the fact that here we were, stuck in our office at The Weekly, while momentous, unprecedented events were happening in Ukraine. Thanks to all our information sources, regular correspondents, free-lance contributors, interviewees, etc., we informed our readers about the news in Ukraine.

A major development at The Weekly in 1989 came in June with the addition of a new paste-up person, Dana Wojtowycz. Thus, The Weekly became a five-woman operation (three editors, one typesetter, one paste-up person).

On a lighter note, this year we saw advertisements for a movie we thought was The Weekly staff's collective biography. If you haven't guessed, the film was "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." (This was especially apropos as we tried to keep up with all the developments in Ukraine and the USSR.)

With all the news that had to be reported this year, we found it difficult to find room for other items, for example, our Notes on People feature. We're hopelessly behind in this category (for which we apologize to our dear readers), but the only solution at this point seems to be to expand the size of the newspaper (or decrease the size of the print to, say, 6-point type). Perhaps with a little bit of help from our devoted readers, who can spread the news about The Weekly, our subscriptions will increase substantially and we will be able to convince the powers that be that we must increase the number of pages.

As the year and decade come to a close, we would like to thank our publisher, our readers and our correspondents for all they have done to make The Weekly what it is. We wish you all the best in the 1990s and beyond.