In God’s country

In case anyone’s interested, it’s approximately 1,320 miles from the high desert area of southeastern Arizona to God’s Country. And God’s Country, to someone who loves fishing as much as I do, just happens to be right here in the River Parishes. So, as a way of introducing myself as the new publisher of L’Observateur, let me begin by saying I’m thankful to be here. In fact, it is so nice to be back in a part of the world where water and water-related activities are the norm, that I’m ecstatic. I’m David Marlowe. I recently accepted the L’Observateur publisher position and moved here from another Wick Communications newspaper in Safford, Ariz. As you may have gathered, I brought with me a lifelong love of fishing. And I’m not picky about what kind of fishing I do, either. Salt-water, fresh-water, or brackish-water, just put me on it and I’m happy. I’ve been known to play a little golf, too. But, not well enough to write home about. Talking about fishing…and I will do that occasionally, I saw in my competitor’s sports section an article about fishing the Midnight Lumps. That looked like fun. That might even be as much fun as fishing for reds or specks. I could probably be talked into trying all three without much effort (hint, hint!). How’s that for begging? Seriously, I am glad to be here, and I’m looking forward to meeting people, establishing a home and becoming familiar with the parishes, both business-wise and recreationally. I’m originally from northeast Texas and began my newspaper career at a daily paper in Marshall, about 35 miles west of Shreveport. I’ve been a part of the Wick organization (owners of L’Observateur) since 1996, joining them as advertising manager in Williston, N.D., then serving in that capacity in Safford, prior to coming here. Add an additional 25 years or so of experience in sales and management in other fields and you have a pretty good picture of my background. My wife of 21 years, Kathy, and my 13-year-old daughter, Rachael, will join me here at the end of the school year. Kathy is a veteran teacher of secondary-school art and Rachael will be entering high school. When it comes to running a community newspaper, my philosophy is simple. We are here to produce “your” newspaper. L’Observateur has been recognized as the best Louisiana newspaper in its class for two years in a row. I don’t plan on fixin’ what ain’t broke. I do plan on having an open door to the community and will go out of my way to be receptive to ideas and input for continuing to improve the content of this paper. Improving our value to you will remain our goal. Please consider this an invitation to drop in and introduce yourself, or give me a call at any time. We can talk about the newspaper, community affairs, or the weather. We might even talk about…fishin’. DAVID MARLOWE is editor and publisher of L’Observateur.