Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Submitted by Chris Newbound on May 27, 2010 - 10:33am

On a very basic level, leaving a job is awkward. There’s the time when you’re trying to decide and yet you can’t really tell anyone—no one you’re working for wants to hear that you’re considering quitting; it’s like saying to a girlfriend I’m thinking of breaking up with you. So for this period of time you have this secret. I may leave. I may not. And then once you decide that you are leaving, there’s the when, the how. When is the best time to tell people? Is there an ideal time? Probably not. Not to mention, the whole awkwardness of actually telling them. In person? A memo? An e-mail? Despite having left jobs before, it’d been a long time ago and so none of this was very fresh in my mind. For all I know I’d botched it back then, too.

Trying to come up with a decent headline on deadline

When I started working at Berkshire Living it was a fledgling regional magazine that had somehow landed in my mailbox, looking pretty promising for a first issue. Most new magazines look a bit vulnerable, but this one appeared to have a fighting chance. Initially, I thought it simply as a magazine that might be open to hearing from some new writers, could maybe use some part-time editing, but then the conversation turned into the need for a managing editor and so a meeting between Seth and myself one snowy morning in January I think it was at Tunnel City (when he was up here in Williamstown teaching a winter study course on what else but Bob Dylan) led to five years and nearly fifty issues. Honestly, I thought it would be more of a one-year gig, if we were lucky.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of the magazine’s first five years. Frankly, it’s been a bit of a blur. Packing up my office that included every issue we’ve all worked on, there were so many stories and even issues that I could barely recall. Oh, did I write that? When did we do that issue? Was that really four years ago?

While it’s been a great tribute to the staff that there has been virtually no turnover since the magazine first started, for me at least, it felt like it was time to make way for others to provide new energy, a fresh voice, a different perspective. Personally, I was simply tired of doing more or less the same thing month after month, regardless of how varied that could sometimes be as far as new people and places to write and read about. There was still deadline—however shifting that sometimes turned out to be; the proverbial pushing the rock up to the top of the mountain each month only to let it roll down to the bottom again and have to start, well, all over again.

Since leaving, a mere two weeks ago, having gone from No More Mister Fat Guy to No More Mister Employed Guy, I’ve already written two pieces—one for BBQ: Berkshire Business Quarterly, and the other for Berkshire Living. And I’ve been graciously invited to continue blogging and reviewing for Berkshire Live, our online version of the magazine. In other words, I hope to continue the parts of my job I enjoyed the most, writing about the great people and events and places our region has to offer and that deserve to be highlighted.

Along with working with a great group of people in the office (Seth, Michael, Mary, Amanda, Alison, and Lesley—and let’s not forget Josh and Laura, too), I’ve really enjoyed my relationships with all our wonderful freelancers over the years. (Please, stay in touch. I’m a little lonelier these days and am free for lunch; so don’t be shy just because I sometimes can be.) May you all prosper and continue to grow. I’ll be here up in Williamstown, trying to do the same. MAY 27, 2010

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