Signing Back On (Temporarily!)

Greetings to our friends in the Insider community!

We haven’t seen you for exactly two years (July 26, 2023), when we published our last issue and declared the pandemic over (A few weeks later, I finally got Covid for the first time. So much for my sense of timing.)  It was our honor to publish over 1,600 stories for you.

We decided to have our own little reunion and put out a three-part commemorative issue. This is the first of the three. The other two parts will run the next two Fridays (August 1 and 8).

The pandemic was truly a once-in-a-century event. There were more than 100 million confirmed cases of Covid and over 1 million deaths, making it the deadliest disaster in U.S. history. We tried to do our small part in informing, entertaining, and providing a sense of community in a truly isolating time.

Please allow us to toot our own horn for a minute. From its inception in 2020 until we closed shop in 2023, The Insider had nearly 50,000 unique visitors, from countries as far-flung as

Rwanda and Australia.

We even had our turn in the media:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/02/19/insider-magazine-covid-19-pandemic/4514181001/

https://nypost.com/2021/03/18/indie-publishers-buck-virus-with-new-titles-acquisitions/

https://www.theinsider1.com/post/the-insider-makes-the-news

https://www.thejewishnews.com/culture/arts/veteran-journalist-and-oak-park-native-starts-pandemic-publication/article_458e8932-60b0-5967-983c-469c59ce8160.html

Thanks again to the more than 100 writers who made this labor of love a reality. Some were journalists; others were writing for publication for the first time. All were a pleasure to work with. So was I, I hope (but doubt). And a special shoutout to Matt Nadelson of Computer Camaraderie, our gifted tech consultant and co-pilot, who truly made this journalistic journey possible.

We hope you enjoy this week’s installment of The Insider and will stick around for the following two!

All best,

Andrea Sachs

(Occasional) Editor-in-Chief

P.S. For next week's issue, we would love to publish YOUR in-the-rear-view-mirror reflections about the pandemic. For example, did you get Covid, or lose any loved ones to the disease? How did the pandemic change you, if at all?  Do you keep up with the latest Covid booster?

Please send us a few lines or a dissertation to editor@theinsider1.com and we will run them next week. (Messages will be gently edited for space and clarity.)