History of CMS News
By Jo Eberl
When I came onto the scene in the Fall of 1989, the CMS News was already in existence, having been produced by Sue Wintsch Wunder and spearheaded by Jim Bannerman. At the time, it was one or two pages, folded in thirds. Desktop publishing had just come in, and in 1989, it seemed like it would be fun to enlarge it and change the format and to include interviews with notable clay scientists, profiles of individual students, commentaries, retrospectives, memorials, Feats of Clay, and the Clay Doctor. People often said that the first things they turned to when the newsletter arrived were the interviews and the Clay Doctor.
It was always a regret that the first interview, with Bob Reynolds, was so short, because we didn’t have the idea down very well yet. Certainly no one else could have been a more fascinating interview subject. A big coup for the newsletter came about a year later when Linus Pauling graciously wrote about his discovery of the structure of the clay minerals, complete with a photo from 1926 of himself, his wife Helen, and son Linus, Jr. It was such a thrill, then, when three years later, Pauling and his son came to the CMS meeting and took part in one of the last interviews of his life, published in CMS News.
A guiding goal was to bring the members of the Society closer together, to make everyone feel they were part of it, even if they weren’t the historical giants everyone knew so well, and to make them feel more comfortable coming to the meetings. We tried to have as many photos as possible, most of them taken by Don Scafe (High Iron Photos), in every issue because it’s so much more interesting to put faces to names, and it was a way to introduce student, international, and new members to the Society. The interviews, profiles, and Feats of Clay were another way for members to get to know each other. Members could also be involved by writing letters to the editor, contributing articles on interesting research or experiences, conducting interviews when the subject was a close friend or colleague, and sharing their memories for retrospectives and memorials. One of the most satisfying parts of the job was having members willingly contribute to the newsletter. It was a tribute to their feelings for the Society and for each other, since they were already so busy.
At the same time, the Society was taking other steps to accomplish the same goals, such as reaching out to colleagues in the former Soviet Union and making more efforts to support students. It was an expansive time for the CMS.
The Society was full of warm and funny people, but had a rather stuffy demeanor at the time. Humor and personal stories were aimed at making it feel like a more welcoming and human home. After the newsletter was established, people often commented on how much more fun the CMS was than other scientific societies they belonged to. There were so many fascinating people in the Society, we would have needed several more issues a year to cover all of them.
Although the Clay Doctor was a creation of Denny Eberl and a reflection of his singular sense of humor, other enthusiastic and frequent contributors were Walter Keller, Warren Huff, and Dave Pevear, as well as several who sent in just one or two letters.
Later on, we introduced profiles of Sustaining Members, who at that time, were all corporations, to give people an idea of what they did. Imagine my surprise to find out, just a few years after I left, that Halliburton, which could barely scrape up the $100 donation, turned out to be the most powerful entity in the universe!
We were also aware of the archival value of the newsletter and felt that it was an historical snapshot of what scientists were doing and thinking at the end of the 20th century, as well as a way to make the history of clay science accessible to new generations.
The Society Office advisors, first Rich Pollastro, then Dave Pevear, proofread and approved every issue, which was reassuring, since some of the Clay Doctors pushed the limits of correctness. Denny also proofed every issue, as well as conducting the majority of the interviews, being the Clay Doctor, suggesting many ideas for interviews and articles, and generally being my sounding board. Artist Marti Nash drew pen-and-ink portraits of the interview subjects, styled after The New Yorker, my mother, Peg Buschman, contributed cartoons involving clay humor, and our daughter Karuna was a big help teaching me to use QuarkExpress when we switched over from PageMaker, as well as transcribing at least one of the interviews, one of the most tedious jobs. The newsletter was a joint effort by many, many members of the CMS, and the encouragement and enthusiasm of its readers kept it going long after it was hard to find the time to produce it. My thanks go to Dave Pevear, and even more, to Denny Eberl, for their major contributions, not the least of which was the fun we had putting it together, over the ten years I edited CMS News.
After I left, Jessica Elzea admirably edited the newsletter, not an easy job, since she also had her own career and family to take care of, until the Society switched to Elements.
Jo Eberl
August 2010