Farewell to the 2011 columnists, hello to the class of '12

We are proud of our reader columnists. If you follow these pages, you know why.

Each year, we pick – from a very large pool of applicants – five or six of the region’s finest writers. Their personal essays run on the Monday editorial pages on a rotating basis. We’ve just selected a new lineup, but let me first pay tribute to the departing team: Kristalyn Simler, Bruce McDowell, Maegen Blue, Bob Turner, Kyle Price and Gillian Van Cooney.

Simler, a University Place mother in the trenches of child-raising, specialized in poignant meditations on family. My favorite, I think, was her account of her toddler niece, who was born with congenital hydrocephalus and impaired vision. Simler’s sensitivity filled every page she wrote.

McDowell, a Tacoman with long experience in teaching and human services, is a big-picture guy. He thinks a lot about community and the human connections that make it work.

I especially liked his profile of “Bill,” a homeless, alcoholic, middle-aged man with a seventh-grade education – until he turned himself around, went back to school and earned an Evergreen degree. He’s now headed for a graduate degree in counseling.

Blue, a Puyallup mother and blogger, has a knack for exploring quirky human habits that don’t necessarily make sense on close examination. Exchanging Christmas cards, for example, or scrap-booking every ridiculous detail of a child’s life, or pretending a “staycation” is a real break.

Turner is a Tacoma father of seven who runs Gloria’s Angels, a nonprofit that supports families coping with grave illnesses. He covered a lot of the human condition – including innocence, love of country, big families – over his 12 months.

I thought of Price’s columns as sidewalk documentaries. His beat was the neighborhood, the block, the fence, the community garden, the “poetry post” on which he displays verse in front of his North End Tacoma house. Like a photographer, a writer can achieve striking effects by tightening the focus. Price showed us how.

Van Cooney – who moved from University Place to San Diego during her tour of duty – is a buoyant young mom with uncommon verbal flair. She could do comedy. She could do serious. She could do tragedy (her grandmother’s death). What she couldn’t do, ever, was bore her readers.

Farewell, and we’ll miss them. But look who’s on deck:

 • Tomorrow you’ll see the debut of Karen Frost, a woman who has raised her children in the isolated foothills of East Pierce County. Frost is not a flashy writer, but we found something hypnotic in her observations of family life and neighborliness on the edge of the wild.

 • Catherine Forte holds a Ph.D. and teaches for Tacoma Community College. She’s an extraordinary storyteller. Look for her Valentine’s Day column; you’ll tell your friends about it.

 • Maria Gudaitis of Dupont is of Lithuanian and Korean descent. She’s got a lively voice in print (and in person). She promises insights into the region’s rich Korean culture, among other subjects.

 • Glenda Cooper, a longtime Tacoman, is a wry observer of the world who recently left her banking career to find “a much more enjoyable and rewarding sense of myself.” “Enjoyable” and “rewarding” describe her writing, as well.

 • Pat Rigley recently moved to Puyallup from Sacramento, Calif. Unlike some of us lifers, he sees this region with fresh eyes. He’s been shocked by the courtesy of local drivers, who actually let fellow motorists merge into their lanes: “In contrast, mummified remains still wait in perpetuity to make the same maneuver in California.”

 • Finally, Joe Joyce, a 16-year-old junior at Bellarmine Preparatory in Tacoma. Anyone who thinks a high-schooler isn’t ready for prime time has a surprise coming.

Six more good reasons to catch the Monday editorial page. I promise.

Email News Tribune editorial page editor Patrick O’Callahan at patrick.ollahan@thenewstribune.com.