We ’ re having a birthday
“ A person who won ’ t read has no advantage over someone who can ’ t read .” – Mark Twain
MEAGHAN SUSI
Flashback to May 1988 . Thirtythree years ago , to be exact . The folks in the local media business were buzzing about this “ new ” magazine on the scene . Imagine someone trying to take on the Rhode Islander , the award-winning staple of the Providence Sunday Journal ! The same Journal company that loomed large and dominated the news space for the majority of Rhode Islanders for decades .
Skeptics immediately predicted its demise , as attempts at publishing a local magazine had been tried and failed . Too expensive to produce . Not enough advertising . Would there be readers willing to read stories in a long form format ?
Yet they persisted . There was something about this cheeky , at times irreverent , often humorous look at quirky Rhode Island . The entrepreneurial startup quickly latched onto the self-depreciation , combined with the passion that so many had for the Ocean State and our perceived foibles . That morphed into the “ Best of Rhode Island ” annual issue and party , a staple of this organization for twenty-eight of the thirty-three trips around the sun .
In this issue , we deliver one of our annual odes to health professionals in our state , “ Top Doctors .” How appropriate as we roll up our sleeves for vaccines and pray for better days ahead . I can ’ t imagine there is any business owner , large or small in Rhode Island , who is not permanently affected by the challenges , the anxiety and the uncertainty of this past year . We certainly are not the exception .
But here we are , one year later , celebrating a legacy of more than three decades . One thing has not changed since May of 1988 . The passion that ignited the spark that became Rhode Island Monthly has not been diminished in the least .
To the Rhode ahead . – J . J . P .
12 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY 2021