Pandemic Papers, pause

First of all, thank you. The feedback and contributions to this interview series have been overwhelmingly positive. Reconnecting with some alums with whom I had fallen out of contact has been extremely gratifying. The Pandemic Papers is something that was not well thought out initially, but it has morphed into something really neat and sustaining. The cliché of something positive coming out of a negative is applicable here. No, this is not a farewell post. It will continue, next week. We’re just going to take a few days off from the interviews for the Memorial Day weekend. And quite frankly, it’s a lot of work to churn these out on a daily basis. Wait! Please know that I’m not complaining! I just want to be more deliberate with the process, maybe vary the questions a bit and make them “dive deeper” (as the kids like to say) as we move forward.

Yesterday’s Pandemic Papers, featuring Camp, was the 40^th such interview (for those keeping score at home, and you know that I am!). The loose goal is to get to 100 of them. Maybe more, maybe less. But the frequency of them may diminish to something like three (3) per week. Again, maybe more, maybe less. We’ll see. I don’t want the well to run dry and to “force” them, either. I also don’t want anyone to feel “left out” – if you have a desire for your story to be heard, and you want to reminisce about the beauty of your time at Marist College and beyond, I want to share your story! Shoot me an email (runhed246@hotmail.com) or a text (845 309 3640) or a Facebook message and I’ll get you on the list. It’s truly great fun. An oral history of our program. And, as I said this week, hopefully it’ll keep going past the pandemic and I’ll have to rename it!

In the meantime, enjoy the (finally) beautiful spring weather. Get out and soak in the sun, but do it from a distance. Thank you.