One rainy summer night, my youngest daughter, Jessica, her beloved cousin, Eric, and I met up at the Lincoln Plaza Theater near Columbus Circle in New York City to watch Wordplay. This warmhearted documentary is a tribute to the brilliant and quirky devotees of crossword puzzles, principally New York Times puzzle editor and National Public Radio puzzle master Will Shortz. On a wintry weekend each year, more than 500 puzzlers from around the world gather in Stamford, Conn, to reunite with old friends and partake in the world’s largest and most prominent crossword competition.
The theme of coming together is especially relevant for public health enthusiasts this month as we gather in Boston, Mass, for the 134th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Public Health Association to be held November 4–8, 2006. The topic of the meeting, “Public Health and Human Rights,” extends to the topic of this issue, “Human Rights and Ethics in Public Health.” Our own masters of these arenas, Journal editors Sofia Gruskin and Bernard M. Dickens, highlight the congruence of human rights norms and ethical standards for public health work in this month’s lead editorial (p1903).
The theme of coming together is further advanced in the session held every year by the Journal editors and board members organized by feature editor Gabriel N. Stover as a service to our larger community of students, practitioners, researchers, and advocates. Please join us on Monday, November 6, 2006, from 10:30 AM to noon for session 3089.3 at the annual meeting in Boston, where we will devote focused attention on writing and publishing in the Journal on rights and ethics in public health.
The movie Wordplay also inspired me to think about the ways in which we come together to enhance public health through the Journal. In the film, celebrity crossword puzzlers Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Mike Mussina, and the Indigo Girls reveal their processes and insights as they unravel the allure of the game. We have our own Journal stars to celebrate his year. Rather than have you puzzle over the solutions, I present the answers as words beginning with the letter c and then provide the clues.
Cherish.
In accepting the post of deputy editor for the Journal, Farzana Kapadia has provided us with the opportunity to cherish the next generation of public health leaders by nurturing her editorial development while profiting from her strong epidemiological skills.
Celebrate.
As our first associate editor of Mexican descent, Felipe González Castro has fulfilled our desire to celebrate the rich diversity of public health research and the people devoted to its study.
Challenge.
Michael Gross, former associate editor, is the second recipient of the Journal award for the reviewer who has done the most to challenge authors to improve the quality of their work. Stewart Landers, current associate editor for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health, credits Michael with guiding him to his successful transition.
Champion.
Henrie M. Treadwell and Joyce H. Nottingham helped champion our Prisons and Health issue with “Standing in the Gap,” an eloquent look at who goes to prison and how we have failed them as a society. They won our second annual award as the authors of a paper that has meaningfully advanced a policy or program, and we stand with them toward ensuring rights and ethics in public health.