Every self respecting newspaper needs a tagline. At the New York Times it’s “all the news that’s fit to print.” At our big sister publication, U.S. 1, it’s “Princeton’s business and entertainment journal.” And here at Genesis, the tagline, “celebrating our creative community,” offers a glimpse of what this publication is all about, but only a glimpse. What kind of “celebrating” are we talking about? Who constitutes “our” community? And what makes those people particularly creative?
We can’t always answer those questions literally, but — to borrow from someone else’s old saw — we know a Genesis article when we see one. The preview of the upcoming exhibit on industrial art at the Michener Museum in Doylestown, for example, appealed to us not just for the artwork that will be on display, but also for the original purpose behind the collection. Edward Steidle, dean of the College of Mineral Industries at Penn State from 1928 to 1953, brought together earth-related disciplines into a single school. To illustrate — literally — the intersection of art, industry, and education he collected original prints and paintings depicting all facets of mineral industry operations from the 1930s. See page 13 for a sample.
For this summer issue we immediately thought of some reading that would evoke a cool moment on a torrid day. Marylou Kelly Streznewski’s “Cool Burn” on page 7 is set at a suburban swimming pool, though the “burn” in her title is not necessarily the result of too much time in the sun. Streznewski’s writer’s statement was icing on this summer treat. A prolific writer (she has a book of poetry that is already in the queue for the fall issue of Genesis), Streznewski shared her simple formula for overcoming writer’s block: “Make a mess is my mantra.”
In the Genesis tagline, “our community” is intended to refer to central New Jersey and Bucks County — from New Brunswick to Newtown, Princeton to Doylestown, we like to say. So how do we explain the appearance of the gardening poem on page 2 by Kim Zach of Omaha, Nebraska. Princeton to Omaha? Well, we were struck not only by the verve of the poem, but also by the path Zach took to become a poet — using poetry in her position as a speech coach.
Lots of creativity to celebrate — in whatever form you would like it to take. Thanks for spending some of your creative time with us.
Richard K. Rein, editor
rein@princetoninfo.com
