Up Front

with the Publisher

Pim’S Newer Look

For 1978

Ten years is too long a time to continue writing a regular magazine column so the good news for rea ders th,„ month is that I'm quitting, This is the last Up Front with the Publisher.

It is in fact 10 years and eight months since the first monthly col umn appeared, and I didn't even notice that I had reached my 10th anniversary earlier this year. I started writing the column (then Up Front with the Editor) to fill a hole in the front of the magazine which appeared suddenly for some technical printing reason or other, then found myself saddled with it.

The column was never meant to be what it later became - an editorial comment on Pacific Islands devel opments. I had in mind to prod uce easy-going, fairly timeless pieces on people I had met, and happenings that attracted my at tention. When I look back I see that there are not nearly enough of the lightweight commentaries such as the one I wrote in June, 1967 about the disappearance of beach combers and other characters from the Islands scene, or the one done some months later about the South Seas hotels I had known (and which have, thank Heaven, since changed for the better!). I seem to remember writing one that de plored the disappearance of a sense of humour with the rise of politics in the South Seas. I enjoyed writ ing those.

But more often than not over the last 10 years I have found my self compelled to dash something off at the last minute, with the presses humming, and it's not what I wanted to say, nor has it frequen tly been of any special interest to anybody.

I'd like to get back to the lighter kind of piece. Since clearly I'm not able to do it every month, in future I'll do it only occasion ally, and not in this space, nor un der this heading.

This gives me the opportunity of saying that next month's PIM will look different in other ways.

It will be in a larger format, with more columns, and its editorial treatment will be somewhat diff erent. Not too different, because in nearly 50 years PIM has earned a unique niche in the Pacific Isl ands. It's a unique magazine, covering the biggest and most fas cinating "beat" in the world, and it will continue to do that. Only we think we can do it better with our new format. There will be more in-depth articles, more pers onality stories, more illustrations that will help show you more of what is going on.

But in January you can see for yourself. And you'll be able to start the new year with a long PIM article about what 1978 holds for the Pacific Islands, including what Russia thinks about it all.