Equipment World

November 2015

Equipment World Digital Magazine

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November 2015 | EquipmentWorld.com 98 final word | by Kirk Landers T hirty years ago, I wrote my first construction magazine editorial. It was pretty much like every con- struction editor's first editorial – everything we do is for you, dear reader. And like most new construction edi- tors, I wrote it hoping it wasn't obvious how utterly stupid I was about heavy construction and the equipment it uses. This month, like so many who have gone before me, I find myself writing my last col- umn… and wondering where the time went. Stepping away is difficult, and thanks to Marcia Doyle and the good people of Randall- Reilly, I've had the good fortune to do it in stages. Even so, I'm leaving behind a great part of my life and I'll miss it. One reason so many of us who get into the construction press stay here for a whole career is because construction people are so great to work with. Before I migrated into this field, I had worked on backpacking and RV magazines, the Time-Life Books Old West series, and an industrial magazine in the food industry. I had never been in a field where the readers were so unpretentious, so willing to share their expertise and so forgiving of journalists asking stupid questions. One of my favorite contractors cut through the formalities of a first interview by ragging on me about being a north-side (of Chicago) blue blood… he being a south-side rowdy. It worked. I forgot all about decorum and tried to think of something snotty to say about the south side that wasn't obvious. Nothing came to me, so I invited him to sit in for a few chukkas at my polo club. The fact that I mispronounced "chukka" (chuckers, anyone?) cemented the friendship. The internationalizing of the construction equipment industry over the past 30 years made the construction beat fascinating. The loss of many domestic brands in the 80s and early 90s was painful to chronicle, but the emergence of large international marketers changed construction journalism in mostly good ways. The corporations that survived put a high premium on journalistic accuracy, which made them patient and helpful for those of us trying trying to describe technical concepts in a way that makes them easy to understand. Many of these companies took it upon themselves to show their foreign operations to the construction press, so many of us have seen a good part of the world as part of our normal work routine. I'm grateful. For the remainder of my years I can right- fully boast that I've been lost in most of the great capitals of the world, some of them repeatedly. Finally, I will miss the camaraderie of my colleagues in the construction press. The competition among us has always been spirited, sometimes intense, but we have al- ways been principled and honest, and we've always been able to have fun together at the endless stream of press functions we attend- ed. I'll never tire of recalling our adventures together to any who will sit and listen. May all of you get to this point in life and have as many warm memories as I. After All These Years

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