Bulletin gets new editor

PAT JOHNSON

After six years under the editorial helm of Baila Lazarus, the Bulletin will be getting a new editor. Beginning April 8, Katharine Hamer will take the editorial reins, promising fresh eyes for the future, but a continuation of the successes of the past.

Hamer has worked in print and broadcast media for the last decade, including stints with the British Broadcasting Corp. and the CBC. Her writing has appeared in the Vancouver Sun, the Globe and Mail and the National Post.

Born in London, England, Hamer is nevertheless a product of the Vancouver Jewish community. Vancouver is her father's hometown and her grandfather, Asher Hamer, was the force behind local retailers Bootlegger and Fred Asher. Hamer moved to Vancouver from England in time for high school – she is a graduate of York House school – and continued her education in English and film at the University of Toronto. She returned to the United Kingdom for several years to work at the BBC and with various independent production companies and settled back in Vancouver in 1998. Most recently, Hamer was a senior writer for CBC news.

"A friend recently told me that taking this job is a mitzvah," Hamer said of her new role as Bulletin editor. "That may be overstating the case a little, but I think we all have a responsibility to contribute somehow and this is what I'm best able to do."

Hamer comes from a Reform Jewish family and considers herself largely secular. However, Hamer said, she carries a strong sense of community and feels deeply connected to the history of the Jewish people.

"Feeling like a part of our local community is a major reason I wanted to work for the Bulletin," she said. "I know I will have big shoes to fill – Baila is energetic and full of ideas – and I hope I can carry on from where she is leaving off."

Hamer won't divulge all her plans, but there are some surprises in store. Some changes – including the paper's name – were in the works before she arrived. But she hopes to continue to reflect the diversity of Vancouver's Jewish community.

"Like the city itself, Vancouver's Jewish community is made up of people from across Canada and around the world," she said. "I would like all of those voices, regardless of background, age or affiliation, to be heard. One of the things I love best about being a journalist is the number of utterly unique people that you get to talk to and write about. It's all about storytelling – about getting to what's really important to people; finding out what makes them tick."

Lazarus, the outgoing editor, warned readers not to think she's disappearing. Her byline will still appear occasionally in the paper, but she is following her bliss in some other directions.

"I've been hard-pressed to fit my photography, watercolor painting and travel writing into the free time that I have now," Lazarus said. "So I would like to focus more time on that, as well as exploring other writing scenarios. Who knows, maybe even playwriting or a book or two are in the future. Certainly more travelling."

Lazarus has been working with the Bulletin since 1996 and has been editor since 1998. The aspect of the job she most enjoyed was helping community organizations like Yaffa Housing, Jewish Women International and the poverty council get their message out, she said.

"I also loved meeting inspirational individuals – artists, businesspeople, rabbis, social workers, volunteers and others who fill their lives with important work and really live the axiom of tikkun olam (repairing the world)," said Lazarus.

"Before working at the paper, I was not that involved in the community, except to attend the occasional High Holy Day service," she said. "Now, the work here has linked me to a huge network of friends and acquaintances in the Jewish community that I never would have had."

Like Hamer, Lazarus is a product of the CBC, having worked in television and radio in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver before joining the Bulletin.

Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.

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