Editor’s Notebook

Editor’s Notebook: Keeping CATALYST Awesome

By Greta Belanger deJong

As we go to press, we are in the midst of our first fund-raiser as a nonprofit (March 31: Love Utah Give Utah). A huge hug and thanks to those who have
contributed from December 2015 through March 28. You mean the world to us.

2,000+
Boulder Mountain Guest Ranch

500-1,999
Ralfee Finn

250-499
Pam & Willy Littig
Elise & Jerry Lazar
100-249
Kathryn Lenton
Nia Z. Sherar
Sue Gerber
Jessie Paul
David Silverstone
Nini Rich

50-99
David Ishida
Lori Mertz
Suzanne Sturn
Judy Mertz
Diane Maggipinto
Stephanee Grosscup
Susan A. Leary

10-49
Denise Davis
Bruce Plenk
Kristen Lavelett
Kathy Van Dame
Nia Z. Sherar
Jenna Nigro
Ken Hunt
Lauren Singer Katz

So much comes down to a conversation.

It’s a marvel there isn’t more discord on the world stage, if you stop to think of how hard it is to have civil, to say nothing of actually meaningful, conversations when you share a language and approximate culture.

How many situations turn sour do to misunderstandings, bad manners and just plain lack of communication?

After the last Republican debate, we asked Charlotte Bell, who writes about yoga, to address the Buddhist principle of “right speech.” Is it true? Is it useful? Is it kind? Is it the right time? Good guidelines, especially when tensions are high.

The other half of the conversation equation is deep listening. On pages 32 and 33, the ACLU’s Anna Brower and community leader Billy Palmer invite us to try on some new points of view by just listening, for starters. The #RaceMatters event on April 21 at Frida Bistro is a great place to practice. I’ll certainly be there.

The April CATALYST is best known for its annual Planting Guide. Time to take down the yellowing, splattered 2015 version from your fridge and hang this gorgeous new thing. Boss gardener James Loomis exhorts us to plant for the good-guy insects, and tells us how. Veteran dirt worshiper Diane Olson offers advice, too, in “Urban Almanac.”

My frontyard kale is reviving from its stiff February pruning by a herd of downtown mule deer. The rhubarb is up. Most herbs overwintered well. Sweet peas are planted. I gave away my hen house—hen, illicit rooster and all. Last night 11-lb. Malia (dog) chased an adolescent raccoon. Urban living can be pret­ty edgy, for reasons suburbanites would never guess.

April’s other charms are Earth Day and National Poetry month. Amy Brunvand tackles both with a wacky essay that could only come out of Utah. We do love this place—and her piece.

We say goodbye, at least for now, to our special projects manager Lori Mertz. She is working on promoting her extremely well-researched and beautifully crafted book, Successful Surgery: A Practical Guide for Patients, Care Givers and Advocates. Buy it for some­one you know who fits that description; they’ll thank you.

Greta deJong is CATALYST’s editor & publisher. Greta@CatalystMagazine.net

This article was originally published on April 1, 2016.