From the editor ~ September/October 2026
Dear readers,
If you’ve been reading my notes for a while, then you’ll know I used to work at The Newport Daily News. I think back on those years fondly, and proudly; from 2011 to 2018, I had the honor of working in the newsroom on the Copy Desk, where I was under the tutelage of old-school journalists, many of whom had been at their posts for decades if not their entire career. I learned a lot — about editing and writing, about the local community, about having thick skin (a newsroom is not a place for the faint of heart, and for a while, I was the youngest person in the room).
For this issue of Newport Life, I’ve assembled the most Daily News veterans yet: five, plus me, and Katelyn McSherry, our publisher, who worked across the hall in the advertising/marketing department.
In these pages, we have a story from Cathy Callahan, the former City Editor and our contributing Copy Editor, who writes about the current mahjong craze — which first started in Newport nearly a century ago.
Then there is our Roger Federer and Mary Carillo Tennis Hall of Fame induction story, penned by Scott Barrett, former Daily News Sports Editor. Whether you were at the celebration this summer or not, his story is a fascinating read about two sports icons — and there’s still time to visit the Hall of Fame museum this fall and learn even more.
Colin Howarth, who looks into four quirky club sports around the island, is also a Daily News alum who worked in the newsroom for a few years (and wrote for the Mercury, if you remember that alt-weekly tabloid that used to appear around town on Wednesdays…). Some of the photos accompanying Colin’s piece are by Dave Hansen, the paper’s former and longtime staff photographer.
And then, straight from retirement (he’s doing well!), we have a feature by Sean Flynn — a name you’ll know if you were ever a loyal or avid Daily News reader. Sean writes about the upcoming NRF “Keeping History Above Water” conference, first launched a decade ago. For that, Sean spoke to locals like Jerry Kirby, along with people in coastal communities from New Hampshire to New Orleans. Dave took photos to go with that one, too (and also contributed an archive photo from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which you might remember seeing on the front page of The Daily News…).
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the hard work of our summer interns — Jade Senh and Megan Dick — who both began their senior year at Salve this month. It was a pleasure to have them in the office. Jade spent many hours working on the sporty-meets-fashionable Favorite Finds spread, and we have Megan to thank for such a robust fall calendar (who knew there are so many tree walks?).
Also: shout-out to Cate Brown who took our mahjong photos while very pregnant, and to Holly Fisher, who continues to bring the Best of Newport County Awards to life (voting for this year opened Sept. 15th!).
I’m proud of this issue — and grateful to all of our contributors for their work — and hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Until November,
Helena
Managing Editor
p.s. Wondering where to find the magazine? Check out this list of retail locations: https://www.newportlifemagazine.com/where-to-buy-nlm/
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