An Editor’s Voice on the Page

Name: Robert BliwisePosition: Editor of Duke Magazine (circulation 130,000); assistant vice president for alumni affairs; teaches magazine journalism in the Sanford School of Public PolicyYears at Duke: 31What I do at Duke: Today might be a very typical day. I’m editing a fairly complex research story about autism work at Duke and asking questions to make sure the story connects with reader interest. I had a long session with one of my students in the fall magazine seminar (at Sanford) to make sure she delivers end-of-semester writing that packs a punch. Often, I’m in weekly meetings with leadership in the Alumni Association here and also with the senior public affairs group at Duke. There are lots of one-on-one meetings with colleagues beyond that to scope out story ideas. I do a lot of writing myself; I’m probably a bit unusual as an editor. I learn from it, and I love exploring with my voice on the page and finding different ways to connect with readers. If I had $5 million, I would: Turn around and endow the editorship of this magazine in the name of Clay Felker (a Duke graduate who was founding editor of New York magazine and founding chair of Duke Magazine’s advisory board), my chief mentor figure. My first ever job: As a library clerk. This was all through high school, after school and through summers. That involved not-so elaborate things like checking out and reshelving books and answering basic reference questions. If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: What I am reading. I’m reading this awesome book called “The Book of Strange New Things.” It’s a science-fiction fantasy about a missionary who is propelled into an alien world to convert the natives—the most challenging missionary work ever.If I could have one superpower, it would be: Time travel. That would just be so awesome, assuming time travel would also conquer language barriers; short of that, Socrates would find me a difficult student of philosophy. Something most people don’t know about me: I  have a history of adventure traveling. I’ve done things like hike England from coast to coast, and hike all around Iceland. Just this past summer, I biked all around the Netherlands. An interesting/memorable day at work for me: One of my former students did a guest-speaking stint in my magazine seminar (at Sanford), and how fun was that, to bring back to the seminar a product of the seminar from some years ago? At the time, he was executive editor of The New Republic. He said what got him started was exposure to the amazing writers whose work he read in this very seminar. That’s the ultimate teacher’s reward.Music I like: I was raised on the Great American Songbook tradition—songwriters like George Gershwin and Harold Arlen, and singers like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra. A pet peeve: The creeping phenomenon of corporate-speak in the academy. How are we “impacting” students, and are we “growing” the curriculum they take? That language makes me cringe.