A woman and the sea - The Taft School

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My Back Pages Michael Kodas Underneath his trendierthan-Clark-Kent disguise, Will Dana ’81—the new managing editor of Rolling Stone —is more magician than superhero. His first trick: restoring the magazine to its former glory. By Julie Reiff
My Back Pages T he photo editor’s office at Rolling Stone looks out over 51st Street through floor-to-ceiling glass. It’s not a huge room, but seven editors file comfortably into it—although there aren’t enough chairs. Two editors lean against the solid wall that’s shared with the neighboring office and a third stands near the doorway. Will Dana ’81, the newly promoted managing editor, grabs a seat by the glass wall that separates the office from the cubicles beyond. He’s wearing khakis and a flowered shirt and puts his loafer-clad feet on the edge of Jodi Peckman’s desk. She sits behind it holding a box of tissues, apologizing that she has a cold. The group brainstorms cover ideas for an upcoming issue featuring the rock band White Stripes. Dana suggests dressing the duo in NASCAR jumpsuits in front of a burning car wreck; they know that publisher Jann Wenner will want what they call a “concept cover.” Excited about his idea, Dana pulls his feet off the desk and leans forward as he describes the scene he pictures in his mind. The other editors nod their heads and discuss his idea for a minute until someone suggests a carnival theme. Nah, I think Annie Leibowitz has done that already, one says, and someone else grabs a photography book off the shelf behind Peckman to see if he can find it. They’re brother and sister, right? another editor asks. And isn’t he into Orson Welles? Maybe we can do something with that? The magazine is such a collaboration, Dana says later. He loves the teamwork, working with other editors, writers, and art directors. “My role is to create an atmosphere in which people can do their best work, to give them the support and confidence to do work that will meet our standards. I like people who are ambitious, talented, and a little weird; I want them to know that if their creative impulses lead them away from the conventional approach, that we’ll follow them there.” The group throws out other ideas—dressing the musicians up in one costume or another almost as if they were a couple of Barbie dolls. Eventually the editors move on to discuss which photographer to use. Dana listens attentively to each of them. He may be their boss now, but he’s also still one of the guys, part of the team. All I Really Want to Do A large W (for Wenner Media) dominates the small lobby, but, neatly lined up along the wall, framed issues of the publication give away the place’s true identity: home of the most famous magazine in the world devoted to music and pop culture. Beneath the glass, the newspaperlike first issue from 1967 is far from pristine. Dogeared and yellow—the fold still visible—it’s a clear sign that Wenner, the magazine’s founder, had little idea what an integral part of that culture Rolling Stone would become. A single black-and-white image—a still photo of John Lennon in army fatigues— dominates the colorless cover. The offices of Rolling Stone are, though, simply offices. Bob Dylan isn’t hanging out at the water cooler, nor is Aerosmith performing its latest song. In fact, there isn’t any music playing, unless people are listening through headphones. The place is busy but surprisingly quiet, businesslike, except that jeans outnumber suits even on a Tuesday. “That’s all I remember about my first day,” says Dana, “how quiet it was here. The place was sleepy. The saying was you’d work here for one year or 15.” Dana started his career as an unpaid intern at Harper’s right after graduating from Middlebury in 1985. He has also worked at Interview, Esquire, 7 Days (which won a national magazine award for general excellence two weeks after closing down), Manhattan Inc, Outside, and Worth. After that he worked for Details, what he calls his “lone Condé Nast experience” in his 20-year career. He says he felt uncomfortable there because the culture was so competitive and there was no real sense of job security. So when Rolling Stone called Dana in 1996—after periodic inquiries on his part—it was, he says, as if a helicopter had flown over and dropped a ladder to rescue him. “This is really where I wanted to be all along.” Taft Bulletin Fall 2005 23
Page 1 and 2: B U L L E T I N He climbs, he shoot
Page 3 and 4: Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Dre
Page 5 and 6: A L U M N I S P O T L I G H T S P O
Page 7 and 8: A L U M N I S P O T L I G H T Up to
Page 9 and 10: A R O U N D T H E P O N D Special T
Page 11 and 12: A R O U N D T H E P O N D More than
Page 13 and 14: A R O U N D T H E P O N D The Mark
Page 15 and 16: A R O U N D T H E P O N D Time for
Page 17 and 18: Emily Andrysick’s five-week trip
Page 19 and 20: The mountains of the world have the
Page 21 and 22: Taking it to a higher level Raised
Page 23: Traveling around the world on photo
Page 27: My Back Pages lenge—the insane ch
Page 30 and 31: R udolph has none of the ego that m
Page 32 and 33: E N D N O T E Little Rock Five By J
Page 34: Taft Bulletin The Taft School Water

A woman and the sea - The Taft School

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