Content area
Full text
When asked about his remarkable insights into the nature of the physical world, Isaac Newton remarked, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." T. S. Eliot said much the same thing about writers in his landmark essay "Tradition and the individual talent" (1920).
We dwell with satisfaction on the poet's difference from his predecessors, especially his immediate predecessors we endeavour to find something that can be isolated to be enjoyed. Whereas if we approach a poet without this prejudice we shall often find that not only the best, but the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors, assert their immortality most vigorously.
As the current editor of Technical communication, I am very mindful of the extraordinary contributions of those who've held this job before me, particularly in this issue whose cover memorializes our late editor emeritus Frank Smith and whose pages include tributes to Frank by his predecessor and his successor as editor.
As Stan Higgins and Roger Grice note in their guest editorials, Frank Smith's legacy to the Society and the profession is significant. A distinguished academic, an accomplished communicator in industry, a former president of STC, and the manager of one of our early conferences, Frank was also a mentor and friend to hundreds of members of his own generation and those younger as well. But despite the importance of these contributions to our Society and our craft, I have no doubt that the professional role Frank cherished most was his connection to this journal, Technical communication.
He was a member of the journal's editorial staff for 11 of the 18 years before he began his 18-year tenure as editor. Following his retirement in 1995, STC's board of...