New Associate Editor Will Cover Weekend Duties
As most of you know,
we've been actively seeking new recruits at Aero-News HQ, as we get
serious about ramping up operations heading towards ANN 10.0 --
also known by its unofficial nickname, Our Plan To Rule The
Universe (er, the aviation universe. Yeah, that's what we meant
-- Ed.)
It is our pleasure to introduce you to the latest crazed
aero-head (er, new employee. Yeah, that's what we meant)
to join our ranks -- Annette Kurman, who will be handling weekend
story assignments in her new role.
It wouldn't be out of line to say Annette flat-out knocked our
socks off during her first assignment with ANN, as a stringer
during AirVenture 2006. We asked her back to help us cover AOPA
Expo 2006 in November; not surprisingly, she was VERY eager to
accept the trip to Palm Springs (she's from New Hampshire; have
you seen the weather they're having lately???) and once again
she proved her mettle. We knew then, it was only a matter of time
before Annette joined the ANN staff.
Annette comes to aviation in a round-about way... never once
having said as a youngster in Philadelphia looking up at the haze
in the sky, "I want to fly." She attended Philadelphia's Temple
University, where she met her future husband in a 500-student
lecture hall, where they were both failing organic chemistry.
Needless to say, Ms. Norwitz and Mr. Kurman later changed
majors.
Having no desire to remain in Philadelphia, the couple graduated
-- she in journalism, he in psychology/business -- married, and
moved to New England. They have lived in the Granite State, New
Hampshire, for more years than Annette will admit.
Armed with that degree in journalism, Annette's first job was as
a 90-word-per-minute typist... but later she became an
award-winning newspaper reporter, winning the New England Press
Association's award for Investigative Reporting in the '90s.
Looking for a full-time job that had benefits, now that her two
little cherubs were in college, she went into the non-profit/higher
education public relations arena. For the past four years, Annette
has worked as director of public relations at Daniel Webster
College, Nashua, NH.
It was at Daniel Webster -- which has been offering aviation
programs for more than 40 years -- that she got the aviation bug.
Having been involved in the College's "Aviation Heritage Festival"
and the FAA's regional Aviation Expo, her hand first touched a
throttle while riding a demo Cirrus SR22. That, together with doing
stories and press releases about Daniel Webster's undergraduate
aviation flight operations and other programs, led her to believe
that she might have what it takes to be an ANN stringer at
AirVenture 2006.
Annette has spent the past year learning about the many aspects
of aviation... especially sport aviation, in which Annette has
decided to become certificated (she notes with pride she passed her
FAA written test in December.) Both daughters, and their respective
college dorms, think it's cool that Mom wants to fly.
We feel her personality and energy level mesh very nicely with
the wacky folks at ANN. Welcome, Annette!