They Made Me An Editor
By Bruce R. Terry, DMD, Editor Emeritus, PDA President
In my early years I was not much of a writer or reader. I was a product of the T. V. dinner generation. I embraced everything non-written. If I had to read, it was a chore. If I had to write, it was painful. My high school English teacher encouraged me to never write once I graduated and said that I would make a fine dentist someday.
Somehow I managed to get through high school with the reading and writing ability of a fifth grader. You think I’ m kidding, but while others were reading the latest Stephen King novel or a great classic, I was watching The Brady Bunch and Love Boat. When I think back it’ s amazing that I graduated from high school.
In college I actually took a stab at an English literature course. I know, what was I thinking? There was a girl I liked who I heard was taking that class so I really didn’ t think with my brain. The girl never gave me the time of day, but I found out that I like English literature. I read a few plays and some novels and found it more interesting than I expected. Who knew?
I always enjoyed working, so when I got to dental school I learned that they needed students to transcribe notes from the lectures. I was also cheap, and if I transcribed for one or two classes I would get all the class notes for free and get paid. So, I believe that was the start of my writing career.
Soon after graduation from dental school I began working in an office in Pottstown. I got to know the dentists in the area and began attending local study clubs and local dental society meetings. I suppose my real break came when I was invited to a local executive meeting for the Montgomery Bucks Dental Society in 1993 by my good friend Dr. Jeff Sameroff. He had been the editor for our local Bulletin for more than 20 years and he was ready to pass it on to someone else. At the time I had no idea what I was getting myself into. To be honest I was scared, but like many times in my life I said,“ I’ ll give it a try.”
Dr. Terry( center) and eight former PDA presidents at the 2017 MOM-n-PA mission in Erie.
Now for the dirty little secret nobody really knows! I came home from that executive meeting and told my wife, Susan, that they asked if I would become editor. She just laughed. She knew me and knew I was not a writer. I said that I was going to need her help to pull this off. I guess she felt sorry for me and agreed. The first few attempts were a disaster. I would write something and give it to Susan to proofread and she would mark it up like I was back in high school. That process has continued now for more than 20 years, including this piece that you are reading now. She will tell you that over the years my writing has gotten better and her edits are fewer. But she deserves the credit for being the Editor’ s Editor. I could never have made this journey without her.
I was editor of the Montgomery Bucks Dental Society Journal for 10 years. During that time I wrote more than 70 editorials and compiled the Journal the old fashion way, with a local printer and typesetting proofs. For each issue I would have to cut and paste all the content onto a master layout. Fax machines were just coming into fashion and I could communicate with the printer without having to go to the shop.
Over the past 22 years of writing other strange things began happening to me. I started reading. I began reading the classics that I missed growing up.“ To Kill A Mockingbird,”“ Moby Dick,”“ The Great Gatsby” and others. I moved from fiction to non-fiction and it has literally changed my life.
From Montgomery Bucks I moved to the Valley Forge Second District where I took over for Dr. Rich Galeone when he became editor of the PDA Journal. I would hold down Montgomery Bucks for another few years and Valley Forge for another eight years before becoming the PDA Journal editor. The designers with Valley Forge were a husband and wife, Carol and Gene Stickle.
28 MARCH / APRIL 2018 | PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL JOURNAL