2018 Board Resolution Honoring Diane McGurgan

A resolution to mark the regrettable but inevitable retirement of Diane McGurgan

Voted by the CASW Board of Directors in Washington, D.C., on the 21st of April 2018

WHEREAS In the trade of American science journalism, science writing more generally, and related crafts, no truer words were ever spoken than “The Essential Diane;” and

WHEREAS For lost or befuddled practitioners of these crafts, commonly at annual ScienceWriters meetings and other such conferences, there has never been a surer, happier rescue from confusion — if not doom — than to spot her face across the room or pick up a scrap of her distinctive voice and laugh; and

WHEREAS Diane McGurgan always had the answers to every CASW and NASW “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why” and “how” posed by our community’s members; and

WHEREAS Under her sometimes salty, gruff exterior is a salty, gruff interior, all fed by a bottomless well of loving, knowing devotion to meeting the needs of our community; and

WHEREAS Her memory of events in the progress and exigencies of organized science writing is so vast that she can recall, research or verify precedents and other historic decisions off the top of her head, like magic; and

WHEREAS She has endured and embraced the ups and downs of the science writing clan since 1978 as Secretary, Executive Secretary, Administrative Secretary and Administrator for the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, sometimes simultaneously; and

WHEREAS She (along with good husband Buddy, it must be noted) has schlepped, moved, stored, ordered up, arranged for and managed uncountable quantities of paper, badges, tickets,  restaurant reservations, bar bills and food trays; and

WHEREAS She has refined the capacity to herd cats, soothe egos and meet crises to a fare-thee-well; and

WHEREAS It is not as though her name can easily fade from the collective memory of science writers (it is woven into our fabric), NASW having honored every year since 2003 a selected committee head or other outstanding spark plug with a service award named after you-know-who; and

WHEREAS One could go on in this vein for many pages, but she would likely tell us to “zip it, already!”;

Therefore be it resolved by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing,  on behalf of all predecessors on the Board and all of our  colleagues worldwide, that we salute Diane McGurgan with heartfelt gratitude for her invaluable and extraordinary  contributions to our community. May her most-deserved retirement, and all the adventures still in store for her, be marked with health, happiness and the certain knowledge that her multitude of friends and colleagues will always remember The Essential Diane.