Year-end thanks and farewells.

• Author: McCormally, Timothy J.
• Position: Less Taxing Matters

Sometimes unexpected things are the most rewarding. It could be a telephone call from a government official commending TEI's legal staff on a technical submission. It could be a participant in a recent tax course taking the time to send an email message about the exemplary support she received from TEI's continuing education staff. It could be a conversation in which a member speaks positively of the cheeriness of TEI's receptionist and the responsiveness of other members of the Institute's administrative staff. Or it could be a counterpart in another organization wishing that his association's publications could be as well-designed as TEI's. Each of these things has occurred in the past few weeks, and they leave me appreciative of our members' taking the time to let us know how we're doing ... and proud of working with the women and men whose good works yielded the comments.

I also appreciate the members who have taken the time to share their constructive criticism, including those who offered suggestions for being more timely in publishing this magazine (a shortcoming that, alas, is largely owing to my missing deadlines) and in getting it into the hands of our members, especially those outside the United States (on which, based on our experience with the last issue, we are seemingly making progress). We take all the feedback we receive quite seriously, and I encourage you to "keep those cards and letters coming."

Of all the surprises that have come my way this fall, the most rewarding was a wholly unexpected visit from a Wisconsin-based member of the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, who stopped by TEI's offices shortly before Thanksgiving. I spent more than an hour with Sister Carol Ann Smith--who happens to be the daughter of TEI's founder, Paul Smith. We talked both about what TEI was doing now (my doing the talking) and, more important, her recollections of TEI's birth and infancy (my doing the listening). (You may recall that Mike Boyle's column in the September-October issue quoted a letter he had received from one of Paul Smith's two sons.) Sitting not far from Paul Smith's photograph in TEI's conference room, Carol Ann talked of her father's passion for TEI, of how the dinner table was frequently shared with various and sundry "tax men" (her term, I assure you). At one point, I observed that one change in the organization over the years was that TEI's involvement in advocacy work (our "lobbying") had increased, and she replied with...