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Carin M. Smilk

Carin M. Smilk

Carin M. Smilk is managing editor of the U.S. bureau at JNS, with extensive experience in writing, content editing, copy editing and newsroom management. She has worked in newspaper and communications offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore; freelanced for more than 25 years; and contributed to magazines and books. She has won more than three dozen individual and team journalism awards on the U.S. state and national levels.

It’s funny—and always revealing—when we have moments to peek back into our lives.
My first day on the job, she asked me to write a speech. Just like that.
I hope one day that everyone will notice. Like a gust of wind. Or a dose of electricity.
No rings, beeps, buzzes, crunching, crackling or distracting sounds of any kind.
It’s visual recognition and pain for all that has been lost in such a tiny, embattled country.
I know what you’re thinking. How petty in this dire time of crisis.
It seems that the chapeau doesn’t fall far from the pate.
I’m not really the trash person; it’s on the half-and-half list.