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| Volume 47, Number 1, Spring 1999 |
Dennis Flanagan, former editor of Scientific American,
has been inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors'
(ASME) Hall of Fame. ASME's Hall of Fame Award was created in
1996 to celebrate the excellence, creativity, and impact of a
select group of highly influential magazine journalists. Flanagan
is credited with creating an American institution, the modern
science magazine, when he (and Gerard Piel) took over and transformed
the 102-year-old Scientific American in 1947. Under Flanagan's
editorial leadership, the magazine served as a bridge between
the world of science and the society at large. In its pages, leading
scientists spoke directly to the public with the help of Flanagan's
editorial staff, who turned technical writing into vigorous prose,
accessible to every intelligent reader. Flanagan mandated that
writers, editors and art staff work in close collaboration, achieving
the seamless integration between text and illustration for which
Scientific American is well-known. The magazine represented
the gold standard of scientific reliability and the considered
judgment of what, in the world of science, it was really worth
to the readers' time and attention. Flanagan also created, through
his tutelage and example, a legacy of writers, scientists, and
younger editors who have gone forth from his mentorship to positions
of leadership at virtually every general interest science and
technology magazine in America. Since his retirement in 1984,
Flanagan has taught and continues to write, primarily for the
scientific community. (Source: ASME news release.)