The love of aviation is in her blood,she'll be back hopefully.
Well...she probably still loves aviation, but may have gotten tired of the grind of writing about it.
There are few in the aviation-writing business that are wholly supported by their writing endeavors. Those that are, are typically out-and-out employed by a magazine. And there are few of those Remember, a title isn't employment... being a "Contributing Editor" doesn't mean you're drawing a paycheck.
Just a reference point: I write one article for EAA every year. If I wrote an article every month (and got the paid the same for it), I'd take in less than 10% of my annual engineering salary.
So we writers generally have other sources of income...and, concommittally with that, other lives. Unfortunately, when one commits to a monthly column, writing can take too much from those lives. The deadlines are fixed, and in addition to the natural desire to honor your promise to deliver, there's the knowledge that if you *don't*, the editor (typically a friend) is going to have to scramble to plug the hole. Going to go on vacation? You don't get time off, you just have to write twice as much to get ahead before you leave.
Plus the fact that you have to come up with a new article every month. A new idea, a new slant, a new product, a new procedure, a new friend, a new way to say "Gee I love to fly" without repeating yourself.
Doesn't sound so bad, over the course of a year. Imagine 20 years of it, like Lane Wallace.
Plus, of course, continue to work your full time job. And fly your airplane. And maintain your airplane. And be with your family. And take your kids to soccer. And fix the leaky roof. And deal with aging parents. Remember, your deadline is only a couple of weeks away.
Yes, a lot of people work two jobs. Few of them enjoy the experience. And aviation writing just doesn't bring in that much to make two jobs worthwhile.
I've been offered columns several times over the years. My usual response is along the lines of "no freakin' way."
So a big salute to people like Dick Stark, Jim Weir, Lane Wallace, and the others that make it worthwhile to open that brand-new magazine in the mail. And if they want a rest, who can blame them?
Ron Wanttaja
