I once heard a story about a man attending a Harvard business course for entrepreneurs. The professor asked each student what business they were in, and when the first replied, “the restaurant business,” the professor said, “No, you aren’t. Tomorrow come back and tell me what business you are in.” The next day the student answered, “I am in the seafood business,” which apparently satisfied the professor. I have often pondered that concept and debated ideas of what business CMM is truly in — clearly “publishing” or “the magazine business” is the wrong answer! Suddenly late one night it occurred to me with the stunning clarity of the obvious — we are in the storytelling business.

I have loved stories for as long as I can remember, and longer. As soon as I learned to talk I wanted to be told stories, read stories, even sung stories. Thankfully my parents, co-publishers and founders of CMM, coincidentally just so happen to also love stories and indulged my insatiable appetite in the form of reading me old books and new books, playing books on cassette tape in the car, and frequently even telling me their own originals.

Dad told us a new story every morning during the 20-minute ride to school, and we never once grew tired of them. While the rest of the world thought Catwoman, Batman, and Spiderman were exciting, we were entertained with the exploits of a brilliant but mad scientist conducting experiments in a swamp who would often turn himself partly into a racoon and thus become the evil nemesis “Coonman.” It was up to the three grimy, half-wild children dubbed the rugrats who also lived in the swamp — conveniently named Margaret, Mary, and Helen — to thwart his wickedness and give him the antidote from his lab to restore him to his human senses.

Mom was no less creative, regaling us with tales of horses sprouting wings after eating magical silver carrots and whose princesses (oddly also named Margaret, Mary, and Helen) then rode them through the sky to rescue imprisoned fairies high up in an eagle’s nest. When reading chapter books to us before bed, she would sit in the doorjamb to read by the light of the hall, giving Robin Williams a run for his money in her scope of various character voices. Our favorites she recorded on cassette tape.

While most people sensibly choose a college major with a career plan in mind, I romantically majored in English purely for my love of story with no thought of what I would do with it afterward. Despite sadly lacking the gift my parents both have of creating original fictions, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work in the storytelling industry nonetheless. People frequently ask me where we find all the ideas for our articles, and truthfully, that is the easy part of our job. Columbia is chock-full of incredible people overflowing with amazing stories. Everyone has a story to tell, and from a content basis, it would be easy to publish a magazine a week in this vibrant city.

So, it is our joy and privilege to be able to share these stories with you and hopefully slake your own thirst for a good narrative each month. I hope you enjoy the ones you hold in your hands that we have curated in this issue.

Sincerely,

Margaret Clay