Georgia Magazine - July 2010 - (Page 24)

“We got into a more political orientation and started doing a fairly hardhitting monthly interview.” Among his first political interviews was a profile of then-vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale. “The Mondale interview was a defining moment,” says Blankinship, who wrote the article. “We wanted to get public personalities on record with a position about the electric cooperatives, and Mondale was a strong supporter of electric co-ops.” While celebrity articles were exciting, the editor recalls with equal warmth stories he wrote about everyday folks and interesting events. “One of my favorite stories was about an old fellow who lived with his family near Americus, when they got electricity for the first time,” says Blankinship. “Here was a man and his wife who had raised three or four children in a three-room cabin, and, in 1974, they were still using kerosene for cooking and light.” Another story explained the odd cause of a power outage. “They traced it back to a transformer, and when a lineman climbed the pole, he discovered a very large, dead and much-fried catfish,” the former editor recalls. “The only conclusion was that a hawk or eagle had carried the catfish with its talons, dropped it, and it landed squarely on the transformer, putting several hundred people out of power.” Blankinship left in 1980 to pursue insurance sales and now lives in Roswell. The managing editor under him, Ken Anderberg, was named editor in December 1980. “I learned the fundamentals of putting a magazine out at RURAL Georgia,” says Anderberg. “It was the first opportunity I had to be the editor of a magazine, and it catapulted me through my career because I did that for the next 30 years.” Anderberg led the magazine through a redesign and, in 1982, RURAL Georgia tied with Iowa for the top award in NRECA national competition. “My goal was to make the publication the best in the country, and we were able to achieve that,” says Anderberg. About the same time, the magazine staff sharpened their political sword to fight a proposal to impose taxes on rural electric bills, according to Anderberg who calls the triumph that ensued “one of the highlights of my entire career.” “We did an article and included postcards in the magazine for members to send to their representatives,” he says. “The response was overwhelming with about 200,000 postcards mailed to the Statehouse from our members. Zell Miller was lieutenant governor and had a stack of postcards on his desk that he could barely see over.” Anderberg left his post in June 1983 and worked at magazines in Atlanta and Florida before retiring to Costa Rica this past April. Following him as editor was Lynn Brunson who would remain at the helm for the next 11 years. Blankinship had hired Brunson as an editorial assistant. “I was in my 20s, and Lynn was in her mid-40s when I hired her,” says Blankinship. “I like to say that whatever I am, Lynn Brunson trained me to be.” The respect is mutual. “I worked with Bill Blankinship when he succeeded in changing the publication from a newspaper format to a fourcolor magazine format,” says Brunson, who now lives in Suwanee. “That was a great time for all of the staff and a turning point for the publication.” RURAL Georgia’s name was changed in 1990 to GEMC GEORGIA Editor Bill Blankinship, left, confers with then-Congressman Wyche Fowler in the late ’70s. 1979 Country Cookin’ by then-Women’s Editor Lynn Brunson December 1975 1970 Average circulation: 136,229 March 1974 Ray E. Clifton becomes editor (Clifton served as managing editor, August 1966-February 1974) William M. (Bill) Blankinship named editor 1977 Tabloid format changes to magazine GEORGIA MAGAZINE 24 www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - July 2010

Georgia Magazine - July 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Where the Wild Things Are
Still Going Strong
Reliving History and Exploring Nature
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - July 2010