I‘ve been given the gift of this monthly space through which to grab your attention or to recognize those who deserve the spotlight.
I want to start by thanking some of my living mentors and reverse mentors — writer/editor Martha Steger, Coming to the Table leaders Martha Rollins and Danita Green, editor Ed Kelleher, and community visionary Kathy Emerson. As for reverse mentors — those who are younger than I am but have much to share, a shout-out to all the Mayorathon team members, to journalist and speaker Samantha Willis, and to our own creative director, Justin Vaughan, and Associate Art Director Lauren Baldwin.
I regrettably have lost two of my mentors in less than two years — my 10th-grade English teacher Lillian White Raible, who inspired my love of journalism, and my 97-year-old great aunt Stephanie Hencinski, who raised five amazing children herself after her husband died when her youngest was 2. I live with the regret of not visiting each more before their deaths.
“You can tell the quality of a society by how it treats its women.” —Leo Dunn
Mentoring is the theme of our Top Docs cover story, which was edited by Tharon Giddens. In reading the stories about medical mentors, no story moved me more than that of Leo Dunn on page 92. In 1967, he had the pick of OB-GYN chairmanships all over the country and chose to go to the least-known medical school, the Medical College of Virginia, because he knew he could do the most good here. What he did for women’s health, his residents and nurse practitioners is astounding. His guiding philosophy: “You can tell the quality of a society by how it treats its women.” Don’t miss this story.
In “Accept & Affirm,” starting on page 84, one Richmonder who transitioned in the 1990s is now lobbying for transgender and nonbinary individuals and another speaks to classes and groups. Both women are mentors, to those who are younger and to those who are navigating their truth.
Oprah Winfrey had poet Maya Angelou as her mentor, and Angelou, of course, exquisitely defined the role:
“In order to be a mentor, and an effective one, one must care. You must care. You don’t have to know how many square miles are in Idaho, you don’t need to know what is the chemical makeup of chemistry, or of blood or water. Know what you know and care about the person, care about what you know and care about the person you’re sharing with.”
We, as mentees, in turn, need to tell them thank you while they are still with us.
