Columns

The Acid Test For Gold

Posted at May 27, 2008 15:25

By Danita Allen Wood

The story started out as a special project
by a University of Missouri journalism graduate
student, Ali Ryan, who was working for
us. She initially surveyed readers, prominent
Missourians, and state travel experts to propose
a list, and then we had the excruciating
task of narrowing it down to a mere one
hundred. Rebecca French Smith came
onboard to complete the project and
proved so savvy an editor of the package
that she is now overall managing editor.

We’ve won four other IRMA awards,
but this was our first gold. We appreciate
the validation, of course. It’s a
real honor to be given a gold, along
with other gold winners in other categories
by magazines such as Arizona
Highways, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and Cottage Life.

But then I started thinking about
gold, the value of gold, and what
winning the award meant. I recalled
a term associated with gold, which is
“the acid test.” The term refers to the
fact that nitric acid is used to confirm
the presence of gold because gold is
insoluble in nitric acid, which will
dissolve other base metals and silver.

We realize the acid test for us isn’t winning
awards. It’s keeping you reading. That’s what
we strive for—simply to entice you into reading
as we celebrate and explore Missouri and
it’s people and places, past and present.

The Civil War in Missouri
I’m also pleased to announce that The Civil
War’s First Blood, Missouri 1854-1861 is finally
off the press. You can read about the book on
page 142. We spent almost two years creating
the book, and authors James Denny and John
Bradbury have done a superb job telling the
dramatic story of the Civil War in our state
before and through 1861. Our state actually
saw the first battle, five weeks before the Battle
of Bull Run (Manassas) in Virginia, and of
course, Missouri saw some of the most vicious
guerrilla action along the border even before
the war began.

Our New Gift Shop
If you’re looking for Missouri-made gifts this
holiday season, visit Missouri Life Marketplace
online at MissouriLife.com. You can also come
see us in Boonville and visit our small gift
shop in the Hotel Frederick, right on Highway
5, next to the river. Our office is only a block
away, so stop and say hello to us, too. We’ve
also compiled a gift basket of Missouri-made
products to go along with a gift subscription,
which you can see on page 10 or online at
MissouriLife.com.

Biggest Issue Ever
This issue has the most pages we’ve ever produced,
with a whopping seventy-one pages of
editorial. That’s more than were in the entire
magazine in our early days, when a typical
issue was sixty-eight pages, containing both
advertising and editorial. We thank you for
reading Missouri Life, and we thank our sponsors
for making it possible for us to continue
offering the magazine at the same price as
when we revived the magazine, back in 1999.

December 2007

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