Editors Notes

The downtowner

October 2008

Hey, tourists from somewhere else.

Don’t you wish you had a National Mall?

It was gratifying and exhilarating to see what was happening on the Mall last Saturday. There was ample and strong evidence that the slow dying of books and book readers was as premature as always, with what appeared to be thousands visiting the tents, listening to readings, getting books signed, shopping for books and getting hugged by humans in stuffed animal suits at the National Book Festival, co-founded by First Lady Laura Bush (who, with daughter Jenna, had a book for sale).

Walking by the fiction tent you could hear Richard (“The Wanderers” and “Lush Life”) Price talk wise, and Louis Bayard (“The Black Tower”) talk about becoming a writer of historical mysteries. Elsewhere children and parents flocked to the tent featuring the 50 states, or to children’s books. And further on, down the line there were special appearances by athletes like Tiki Barber and singing legend Dionne Warwick and literary great Salman Rushdie.

All over the mall you could spot families with American Book Festival tote bags, or free ones provided by Target, one of the sponsors of the festival.

This in spite of the threat and sometimes appearance of rain.

Things were even busier at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, where the Sant Ocean Hall, complete with the life-sized whale Phoenix hanging overhead, made its debut. The hall, the museum’s up-to-the-minute, very educational, but also very interactive, fun and important, exhibit drew what seemed like thousands, parents and children jamming the new site and spreading out over the rest of the museum and then onto the mall.

This in spite of the threat and sometimes the appearance of rain.

Only in Washington could this happen. For real.

In this issue of the Downtowner, we’re featuring a cover story on the Sant Ocean Hall, what’s in it, why you should go, and what it all means, just as in last week’s issue of the Downtowner, we featured the National Book Festival on the cover.

With all that is going on with the economy these days, it’s hard to see truth and light at the end of the tunnel. We don’t have any answers to the current crisis and we cannot, for sure, tell you what is the best answer. Fortunately, though, we have Bill Starrels to shed a small amount of light on the situation. As a former employee of Washington Mutual, Starrels delves into his departure from WaMu and the slight gratifications of its demise.

Joining Bill Starrels in our new Business and Finance section is Tim Heitmann. He was the first writer our Publisher Sonya Bernhardt recruited and we are proud to have him back. Tim originally wrote a financial column until 2005.  After a short hiatus, he’s back. Tim has a Ph.D from Georgetown University and has been involved for 25 years in the financial services industry as a broker, Investment Banker and financial journalist. He has worked for Legg Mason, Raymond James and Wealth Management and Associates.

We are also happy to welcome our old friend Joe Russo. An ex-real estate writer, Joe wrote a feature for us in our In Country section about Private Label Wines and what’s possible for your wine making dreams in Virginia. This is a story you don’t want to miss because you can get hands-on and create your own varietals to enjoy for years to come. Check out pages 16 and 17 for the details.

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