Resurrecting Obituaries You talk, we listen. Our decision to implement a new policy on obituaries in our last issue made a fairly resounding thud, heard most distinctly here in the magazine office where we received several thoughtful but firm letters asking us to reconsider. So we have. Beginning with the February issue, we will expand our obituaries to include personal and professional achievements, noteworthy associations, college involvement and other information that conveys the contributions of a life. We will continue to use the space we devote to obituaries judiciously; we have no choice. The magazine, which appeals to readers across a broad spectrum, must continue to allocate content in a way that interests a cross section of Colby people. We recognize that nothing short of lengthy, newspaper-style obituaries will satisfy some of our readers, but we hope they will understand that we are trying to do what is best for the magazine in its larger context. When tradeoffs are made, we have tried to make them equitably and with as little pain as possible. But painful they remain. In coming issues you will see expanded coverage of some alumni who are currently classified in the 50-plus group. Many members of this group have felt underrepresented in the magazine as a whole and in the class news section in particular. Whether we save space now or later, we must eventually carve out pages for covering the lives of these alumni. Revisiting our policy demonstrated again the value of reader involvement in determining the magazine's direction. Although the volume of letters we received about the obituary policy was not large, the tone of those letters--reasonable, sincere and respectful of our judgment--was persuasive. Colby obviously means a lot to the people who wrote those letters, and for that we are thankful. With their help, we hope we have put the issue of obituaries to rest.
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