Remembering John Bangsund: A Modest Proposal
by Bridget Blair
Janet Mackenzie wrote in the introduction to At the Typeface, published by the Society of Editors (Victoria) in 2005:
‘The creation of a national organisation representing editors’ interests has been a long-term aim of the Society, first expressed in the Newsletter by John Bangsund in 1979. There was little response at the time, but interest began to grow during the 1990s. At last, two decades after his pioneering article, the profession achieved a national presence with the establishment of the Council of Australian Societies of Editors in August 1998. CASE has some major achievements to its credit, including the publication of Australian Standards for Editing Practice in 2001 and a program of biennial national conferences. At the time of writing, CASE is in the process of becoming a formal national organisation, the Institute of Professional Editors.’
And now here we are, producing a newsletter for the united Australian editing societies plus New Zealand to boot. How did Melbourne and Sydney ever manage to put aside our rivalry for long enough? Read John’s original argument for mutual support and promotion of the editing profession [PDF, 526KB].
Bridget Blair can be contacted at edvic.communication@iped-editors.org.