25 Angels and pieces I’m proud to have written
An opportunistic shot of Lee and Monica at The Cherry Tree. This one didn’t make the mag.
Every so often I get something published of which I am particularly proud. Back in the ‘80s my feature on global fragility (which made a double page spread in Strategic Risk) gave me a level of satisfaction that I still remember clearly. It alerted people to what I thought they should accept as clear, self-evident trends. Others disagreed at the time, and while I’ve been proven right on some of what I wrote, the idea that we are living in increasingly fragile times has yet to gain the traction I think it deserves. Other pieces I’ve been proud to have had published include; a very short photo feature on a KALACC Aboriginal dance festival for Wexas Traveller(because I was able to mention the responsibility I felt to the people I shot), a discussion of weather risks which have since come to pass (for an academic journal), a rant on the basics of Six Sigma (I couldn’t believe how wrong people were getting it and was gobsmacked when I got emails thanking me for stating the basics clearly) for Cutter Consortium, a series of CPD units for Insurance Times, a piece on Pilobolus because it used photography in an unusual way, a guidance book on risk management published by HMSO (although the pleasure was killed by the inevitable following politics) my Joy Of Dance book and a set of blog posts for Dance Today (When their site went down some people complained. It may have annoyed the editor but I was pleased by the extent to which my followers cared). Later this year you’ll see something on flamenco acoustics and a positive feature on Tabanka and racism in Norway. I’ll post on both of them once they’re published, there’s more to each than you might think.
I am also proud of my column in the local publication the Wanstead Village Directory. Called ‘Angels in Wanstead’ it profiles those who have done good things in and around our community. I do it because I believe it is important that people are acknowledged for the good things they do. The area covered includes around 8,000 residents and 3,000 to 6,000 others who come in to the area to work or play. April’s column will be the 25th in the series, there are five on my future list, locals keep making suggestions and I’m discovering more wonderful people to write about all the time.
Owner-editor Lee suggested I write about Monica; our local Big Issue lady, in last month’s column. Part of what she told me made me so angry I had to add my own thoughts even though I wasn’t sure if Lee would find them socially or commercially acceptable. I was thrilled to see he hadn’t edited out the last sentence, you can read what it is at http://wansteadvillagedirectory.com/Features/angels-in-wanstead-monica-bujor.html, and an accompanying one-pager about the Big Issue here.
So, thank you Lee. I’m pleased and proud to be able to cover the wonderful people of our community in the Wanstead Village Directory. Here’s to another 25 monthly Angels over the next couple of years!