Rachel's Democracy & Health News #997, February 5, 2009

WHAT HAS RACHEL'S NEWS EVER DONE FOR ME?

[Rachel's introduction: Before Rachel's News ceases publication Feb. 26, some of Rachel's friends hope you will write a note (or an essay) expressing what Rachel's has meant to you, and email it to rachel.comments@gmail.com]

By Katie Silberman

Dear Friends,

As you know, Rachel's News will cease publication with issue #1000 on Feb. 26. Do you have a story to share about what Rachel's has meant to you? If so, please email it to rachel.comments@gmail.com.

In these days of Presidential Blackberries, it's hard to remember a world that wasn't wired. It was tricky to access useful information in 1986 (imagine telling a 20-year-old there was no Google! How did we learn anything?).

I remember, as an intern at a non-profit in the '90s, that one of my jobs was to capture the precious issues of Rachel's as they arrived in the mail, triple-hole punch them, and archive them in big binders on the shelves. We consulted those binders religiously, as did thousands of others with their own binders of Rachel's, all across the country.

With the advent of the internet, Rachel's became even more valuable. Publisher Peter Montague was an early adopter of online technology, realizing the potential for crucial information on health, environment and democracy to reach the communities who needed it most. As we all became more plugged in, we also got swamped with the "too much information" age. Once again, Peter's discerning eye for the most important ideas of the day -- as well as his own thoughtful, educated and often radical essays -- helped activists around the country filter through the dross and emerge with the gems they needed. Rachel's has been a crucial tool for thousands of people who helped build the movements for social and environmental health and justice that exist today.

Do you have your own Rachel's story? Was there one idea, one issue that sparked a fire in you that still burns today? Did you rely on those issues arriving by mail, and then email, to help you make sense of the "big ideas" in health, environment and democracy and use them in your own work?

We want to hear from you! February 26 marks the 1000th, and last, weekly issue of Rachel's. Rachel's friends at the Science and Environmental Health Network (whose own ideas have enjoyed a lusciously symbiotic relationship with Rachel's) are collecting stories of how Rachel's has changed the landscape over the past 23 years.

Would you contribute a note, story, or short essay about the effect that Rachel's has had on your work, your life and our national community?

Please email your note, story or essay to: rachel.comments@gmail.com.

Thanks!

(Signed -- SEHN board and staff members)

Benno Friedman Joe Guth Nancy Myers Carolyn Raffensperger Madeleine Scammell Ted Schettler Sherri Seidmon Katie Silberman Sandra Steingraber