FROM THE PUBLISHER
Past, Present, Future
IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY. I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE
writing a publisher’s note reminding you of one more trip around the sun and that
May marks the start of the thirty-third year of Rhode Island Monthly. I was supposed
to be telling you about our summer guide filled with facts about fairs, festivals, concerts,
parades and more to savor this summer. I was supposed to be making my annual
pledge that we would continue to chronicle all aspects of life in Rhode Island with
vigilance and candor no matter what.
But then again, graduating seniors weren’t supposed to trade a proud moment for
lawn signs and balloons. Small businesses that thrive on the ebb and flow of life weren’t
supposed to suffer through weeks of darkness and shut down. Our citizens weren’t
supposed to live in fear, suffer economic hardship, miss loved ones.
But what did happen was this: Every day during this crisis we published an e-blast
with news and information about surviving life during the COVID crisis. We produced
a webpage where businesses could list information for free. We updated the restaurant
listings constantly for takeout all over the state. We tried to provide emotional and
spiritual messaging in part with a video that said, “This too shall pass.” We provided
free expanded digital access to this information to anyone who needed it.
We published our home design magazine, Nest, and this, our combined May/June
issue, all fueled by daily Zoom meetings, hundreds of emails, texts and phone calls.
Fitting artwork for the cover is the poster Governor Raimondo commissioned by RISD
grad Shepard Fairey to honor our medical professionals and our motto, “Hope,” during
this crisis. We thank them for their cooperation and permission to use it.
And lastly in this issue, we have what we hope is a gift of inspiration to you, a copy
of the poster, as we look forward to the Rhode Island we remember and are eager to
return to. We thank National Grid for providing funding to cover our costs days before
we shipped this to press. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but we have continued to
chronicle life in Rhode Island, both in good times and in bad, and will do the same
for years to come.
To the Rhode ahead. –J.J.P.
Unknown artist, Greek
Aphrodite (detail), 2nd century BCE
Museum Appropriation Fund and Special Gift Fund
224 Benefit Street
Providence, ri 02903
RISDMUSEUM.ORG
JOHN O’DONNELL PHOTOGRAPHY
12 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MAY/JUNE 2020