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