As a writer and editor with many years of experience, I can tell you that it doesn’t take a specialist to cover the stories I have in my career. I’ve been a newspaper police reporter, magazine editor, columnist, correspondent and consultant for such diverse entities as John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Naval Postgraduate School, Claremont Graduate University, and the University of Southern California, to name a few. If you ’re very good at what you do, and I am, and if you ’re smart and interested in the world around you, you can cover anything: the science of DNA analysis; the development of specialized weapons from declassified DOD technologies; asymmetrical warfare in the fifth-dimensional battlespace; how the deaf can lose their language in long -term incarceration; inter[1]views with serial killers, government officials, movie stars, and a Minnesota jailer who moonlights as a cartoonist. You can even write about why peaches have fuzz. Seriously. My editor once sent me to the farmer ’s market to interview a local grower about his peach crop. It may have been my best work. Those stories took brains, curiosity, and the ability to translate scientific language and government -speak into English. What they didn’t require, and what probably caused a fatal case of burnout, was heart. This is where you come in. Search and rescue requires heart. We can learn all the technical skills, go through the academics, buy all the cool gear. But if we don ’t have heart (and no small amount of grit) our search -and – rescue careers will be short. We won ’t feel that rush of adrenaline when the cell phone rings.
When we hit the trail, we won’t turn our faces to the sky, close our eyes, and sigh with relief at being outdoors, where we belong. We won ’t have that
compulsion to find out what ’s behind that bush or over the next hill. (I call it Around – The -Next -Corner OCD.) This is what strikes me about the Meridian, its contributors, and about you – the members of the MRA. You have heart. You can hear it in every story. The dedication to learning more, to finding new ways, honing skills, saving more lives. And all from volunteers. It ’s extraordinary. I join Shelley Littin, my co -editor, in thanking everyone for their contributions to this issue. We are excited about working with you, and look forward to reading your stories of rescues that ended well and learning from those that didn’t.
Keep in touch, Lois Pilant Grossman San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team (support team member and peach fuzz expert) Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department
