From the Editor: Memorable ‘scene setting’

By Antoinette Rahn

One of the first editors I worked for, Tim Harty, used to say painting a captivating scene with words is instrumental to inviting a reader in and creating a memorable experience. I doubt that piece of advice was lost on any of my fellow sports stringers working at that Midwestern newspaper. I believe that’s because it’s good advice; and also when ‘Harty’ would review a round up and the scene was lacking detail he would shout out ‘more paint!’

I think it also speaks to something several of our Readers’ Advisory Board members frequently mention in their monthly commentaries. To paraphrase, often a single sentence, quote or paragraph can stop you in your tracks, especially when skimming through an issue of Trader to see where you will begin (because while many of you tell us you read it cover to cover, it’s not necessarily in front to back order). We absolutely get that.

Here are just a few of the many sentences and paragraphs that set a scene within this issue, and captured my attention...

“Like you, your children have good taste. There is no contemporary match for the beautiful and classic pieces of this time period.” — Dr. Anthony J. Cavo, Ask the Experts

Complimenting anyone on their taste and then further recognizing that in one’s children, is aces in my estimation. My late mother loved nothing more than to hear positive stories about the actions and attitudes of her daughters.

“The day of antique dealers knowing more about antiques than their customers is over. Customers come into our stores armed with historic sales data and points of connoisseurship.” — Wayne Jordan, Behind the Gavel

One of many things Wayne does so well is state the facts. It’s a bit like being in college, getting into a class with the professor that everyone admires, and then finding out it’s a small class and it’s more of a coffee clutch - Nice. I’m pretty certain my old boss ‘Harty’ would say Wayne is a skillful painter with words.

“The nicest thing of all is that there are a number of choices of fiscal papers one can select from to satisfy this collecting urge, and from all over the world.” — Neil Shafer, Collecting Feature

I love locomotives and trains. I think it relates to the memories I have of hearing the train whistle blow during the midnight hour as it rolled along the tracks just behind my grandparents’ farm. The tracks are long gone, but it was one of the first things that came to mind when I read Mr. Shafer’s interesting feature.

“Fox Comics began as the brain child of Victor Fox, said to have been a former accountant at DC who was so impressed with that company’s sales figures he started his own business. ” — David Tosh, Cover Story ~ 1930s comic books

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but it can also be a precursor to costly litigation, as Mr. Fox apparently discovered. I can imagine watching the dollars roll in from DC’s innovative anthology comics, would be great inspiration to break out on one’s own. However, Wonder Man was a casualty of this. Who knows what could have been.

“When I was at First Presbyterian Church, they had a nice, big, old pipe organ up there, a rather large one. When I finished working in the evening, I had all the keys. So I went up and I’d sit down and play the big organ and think, ‘Oh boy, this is for me.” — Rod Levsen Sr., In the News

As I read the article about Mr. Levsen and his organ repair work, I reflected on my own good fortune doing something I truly love. My hope is all of you have an “oh boy, this is for me” moment in life.