Luke’s Turn to Take the Bow

Luke Osteen is a national treasure. By magic, fate, or fast-talking, The Laurel managed to snag him almost two decades ago and hasn’t turned loose since. He’s our editor-in-chief, but mostly he’s the super glue that holds us writers together. Let’s read some of his fan mail:• You can’t help but love Luke, he’s the kindest man I know! Janet Cummings• Luke is our constant – every month playing composer, wrangler, and editor to our indispensable band of contributors and writers – and he makes it all a melody. He is kind, gener-ous, thoughtful – and it’s never an act, it’s not transaction based. It’s his soul, and he offers it freely. We appreciate his words beyond words. And we love him beyond measure.Marjorie Christiansen• It was only by happenstance that I started writing for the Laurel. Three years ago, my life was at a crossroads – my husband had just died; my job no longer rewarding. My discontent must have been evident because at lunch one day with Marjorie Christensen and Amanda Sullivan, they asked me what I wanted to do. I was as surprised as they must have been when I blurted out “I want to write.” It was a wish I had never before articulated. A few days later Marjorie emailed, asking if I was serious. And so it began, my tenure under the inimitable editor Luke Osteen. I have been guided by his wisdom and counsel from my first assignment. When I struggled to find my voice and sought his advice on how to tell a story, he told me, “By listen-ing,really listening, to the rhythm of conversations, you come to grasp the intricacies of how we talk to one another about the things that are important to us, and that can’t help but make your writing more immediate, more passionate.You’re going to become someone that the readers can trust and they’re going to feel your passion and wit in whatever appears on the page.”A few weeks later after reviewing one of my first submissions he wrote back: “Marlene, your copy is wonderful! You clearly get it, you understand theLaurelstyle! If you’re reading this, stand up and take a bow! Imagine that Marjorie and I are on our feet in front of you, applauding wildly!”His applause has kept me going for three years – ever compas-sionate when life gets in the way, always there when I am most in need of a pat on the back. So, here’s to you Luke Osteen. It’s your turn to take a bow!Marlene Osteen• Luke is the most encouraging, enthusiastic, and complimenta-ry editor I have ever experienced – and I’ve been a professional writer for more than 30 years. He’s always considerate and patient and professional.But I love his clever, humorous statements and questions that make me smile:“Lace up your running shoes and strap on your helmet!”“Feelin’ frisky?”“I’m flipping stories and pages like a Drunken Juggler in the World’s Saddest Circus.”I appreciate him very much. Deena Bouknight• A good captain steadies the ship, keeps morale high, handles crises with aplomband never, ever lets you see them sweat.Luke does all of that for us and always with a smile and a sense of humor.And, on top of that his mastery of the written word gives me something to aspire to. Is there anything Luke can’t do?I haven’t found it yet.Mary McCall• In all things of Luke, there is something of the marvelous. Above, I stole 10 words of Aristotle’s 11. I am not proud of my thievery, but I am extraordinarily proud to call Luke Osteen my editor … while not-so-subtly comparing him to a classic Greek master of all things marvelous. Being an editor requires endless patience. The workload is ginormous. Luke oversees data of Biblical proportions for every issue, and he gets by on only one water tower-full of caffeine per day. Our EIC moves information from the writer’s mind to the reader’s mind. Word spillage is likely – necessary even, if the editor is worth his salt. And Luke is one delightfully salty individual. He’s the spice of our journalistic lives.No one has ever seen it, but the rumor circulating is Luke possesses an Empathic Radio tuned into to each one of us. He knows our frequency for funny. He’s deeply in tune with our concerns; he can turn us 180 with a compliment, a joke, or an insight. And we are better for it. He’s so smooth, we barely know what it was that fine-tuned us. That is a rare gift … to correct someone without ruffling a single feather. It’s one more astonishing feature of the marvelous Laurel Lukeness we all love.

And so it shall be etched in stone:

All things of Luke are marvelous

From crown to where metatarsals is

He generates love by jarfuls for us

And tweaks our bloopers with artfulness

by Donna Rhodes