Finis Print.

AuthorKinney, David
PositionUPFRONT

The people whose words populate these pages compose a changing cast of characters. Some stay for years, their work appearing in every issue. Bylines of others show up only occasionally. A few appear but once, never to be seen here again. It's the nature of this business, which is why publications rarely note departures, even when veteran staff members leave the fold.

But this one we can't ignore. Since he launched his Fine Print column in our October 2007 issue, Dan Gearino has been one of our most popular writers. In the 25 years I have edited the magazine, nobody else's work, month after month, has elicited as much reader response. A novelist and former business editor, he came to us after 11 years as a columnist for The (Raleigh) News & Observer, so he already had a following. He gained a lot of new fans here. One of the reasons, I believe, is that he kept the promise he made on this very page in his introduction.

"I'll never pose myself as a business authority, a charade that would be exposed within minutes, nor will I ever be so foolish as to tell anyone how to run a company. Instead, I'll be that curious fellow who has a knack for pertinent observations and impertinent questions. The only guarantee I'll make is that every column will be eminently readable."

So why is the column that begins on page 14 his BNC swan song? For the same reason we've all given up things that give us pleasure in this life: Work got in the way. Here's how he explains it:

"Five years ago, I left the daily newspaper business to make my way as a...

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