Baking & Snack - July 2004 - 31

among wholesale bakers. In 1988, it became an independent, freestanding monthly publication and took a new
name, Baking & Snack Systems. It adopted its current
title, Baking & Snack, in 1993.
"Our objectives for the magazine were met extremely
well, way beyond anticipated results. And for that reason, we
could establish it as a separate publication," Mr. Sabo said.
In 1983, the company acquired Bakers Digest and put it
on an alternate month schedule with BE. To handle both
and become their chief writer and reporter, Sosland Publishing hired Laurie Gorton, then editor and publishing
director of a competing magazine, Putman Publishing's
Baking Industry. She brought with her a 9-year record of
accomplishment in writing about the practical side of baking science and technology for commercial wholesale bakers. Ms. Gorton managed the publication as editor for the
next 17 years. She took it from a 6-times-per-year schedule
to monthly publication; from BE to B&SS to B&S; and
from an average folio size of less than 50 pages to a peak of
nearly 190 pages. She was named executive editor in 1998.
"I jumped at the opportunity to join Sosland because I
wanted to work with the next generation of publishing technology: computer-aided writing, editing and makeup," Ms.
Gorton said. "In that, I wasn't too different from the average
BE reader, who was facing similar change as the industry
shifted into computerized, not just mechanized, processing.
"I'm an engineer's daughter," she continued with a
laugh. "I like describing how things work, and I enjoy moving information from source to user, making it actionable
so readers can become successful in their businesses."
Steve Berne became B&S's editor in 1999. Formerly
a senior editor for Cahner's Publishing's Prepared Foods
and Food Engineering magazines, he brought to B&S the
skills of a seasoned editor and the formal education and
practical experience of a food scientist. He managed processing operations for a number of food manufacturing
companies, including seven years with a specialty wholesale bakery where he wore the hats of plant and operations manager, R&D, QA, purchasing and even sales.
"Here was my chance with Baking & Snack to put my
real-world experience to work for a whole new audience
of readers," Mr. Berne said. "The baking industry always
held my interest because of its broadly varied products.
Now, automation is changing everything about the
industry's technology of manufacturing, and I wanted to
be on the front lines to report this revolution."
INDIVIDUAL GROWTH. L. Joshua (Josh) Sosland, now
executive editor of M&BN and vice-chairman of Sosland
Publishing, joined the company as production editor of
BE in mid-1983. In addition to page makeup and editing,
Mr. Sosland also wrote for the magazine, contributing its
first article about a wholesale tortilla processing plant,
Arga's Mexican Food Products, Tempe, AZ. In 1985, Mr.

Sosland was promoted to
markets editor for M&BN.
At Sosland Publishing, assistant and associate editors
often work for multiple
publications. Most were
supervised by Susan K.
Robinson, a long-tenured
Sosland editor and design
department
manager,
who now serves as the
company's Web content
director. Over the years,
many contributed to
the magazine.
Several were
promoted to additional responsibilities.
Christine (McKemy)
McWard joined as an
assistant editor and designer in 1990, rising to
senior associate editor
in 1996 and finally editor in 1998. Mari (Cornell) Rydings followed a
similar career path, from
features editor in 1998 to
managing editor in 1999.
She also served as Expo
editor in 2001 and special
projects editor in 2002.
RECOGNIZED EXPERTS.
To add depth to its reporting and writing, the
magazine tapped a number of leading industry experts. The first was Leland
M. Moss, an independent
bakery engineering consultant and former vice-president
of engineering for Campbell Taggart (predecessor to
today's Sara Lee Baking Group).
Thomas F. Spooner, however, was the contributing
writer most associated with the magazine during the past
25 years. Even before he retired as president of Pennwalt's
Flour Service division, he charted the next stage of his
career serving the baking industry by offering his writing
services based on his deep industry expertise. He became
a contributing editor to BE in 1983 and continued to
write for the magazine until a few months before his
death in 2001. Already widely known throughout the
industry and a past president of BEMA, Mr. Spooner
brought clear, engineering-oriented explanations to

July 2004 / BAKING & SNACK / 31

Baking & Snack - July 2004

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