A Note From the Editor

Careful readers will note a number of changes in the masthead that runs in today's paper on Page 4.

Editor at large Richard J. Cattani retired last week after 30 years of distinguished and courageous service to the Monitor. Dick's six-year term as the Monitor's editor was just one episode in a career that included assignments as city hall reporter, Midwest bureau chief, national political correspondent in Washington, and chief editorial writer.

Dick, his wife, Jacqueline, and their children, Jeremy, Ruth, and Gabriel, were honored at a gathering in the Monitor newsroom on Jan. 30.

"We want to thank Dick and his family for their long service, devotion, and dedication to this church and to its newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor,'' said Virginia S. Harris, chairman of the Christian Science Board of Directors.

Director John L. Selover said, "In Dick's retirement at this time, he goes with our gratitude, our honor, and our recognition that his portrait as an editor of this paper stands with those of all the former editors in honor and gratitude."

Mr. Cattani will continue to write occasionally for the paper.

Another Monitor veteran, David Francis, is becoming the paper's senior business writer after serving a total of 18 years as the Monitor's business editor during two separate tours in the post. He has won every major award in business journalism during his long career with the Monitor and has skillfully and unselfishly mentored a host of aspiring business reporters, including the current editor of this newspaper.

Our new business editor, Lynde McCormick, began his career as a Monitor reporter and later joined the Rocky Mountain News, where he served as business editor and columnist. Lynde hosted a business program on Monitor Television and later was managing editor of Monitor Radio. Most recently, he has been anchor/editor at CNBC Asia based in Hong Kong, reporting extensively on international business trends.

The editors who oversee two of the Monitor's electronic publishing outlets also have been added to the paper's masthead to recognize the role their activities play in helping to bring the Monitor to a wider range of audiences.

Karla Vallance is executive producer and managing editor of Monitor Radio, our public radio and shortwave news services. Karla began her career at the Chicago Tribune and later was a reporter at our newspaper and a producer for Monitor Radio. She rejoined the Monitor in 1996 after spending six years as a producer and editor at CNN and CNN International.

Tom Regan is supervising editor of the e-Monitor, our site on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet (www.csmonitor.com). The e-Monitor, which is now drawing about 4,000 visitors a day, includes the entire text of the newspaper and sound from Monitor Radio. Tom spent 15 years as a reporter and editor at the Halifax Daily News. He came to the Monitor after a stint as a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University.

If you would like to know more about other members of the Monitor's team, a number of staff biographies are available on our Web site.