Longtime editor leaving Washingtonian
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
August 14, 2009
Washingtonian magazine's Editor Jack Limpert, a living institution at one of America's most successful city glossies, is stepping aside after 40 years, the magazine announced Thursday.
Limpert is making way for Garrett Graff, a 28-year-old former blogger who has been with the magazine for one-tenth of Limpert's tenure.
"I've been working hard in journalism for 50 years and I think I need some time to do some thinking and read some books," Limpert told The Examiner.
The move is effective Sept. 1. Limpert will stay on as "editor at large" to help the younger gun make the transition.
Graff said that he is well-positioned to capture the zeitgeist.
"It's clear to most people that Obama and the Obama administration has brought a lot of energy," he said. "Washington right now is as exciting as it has ever has been. We have the best restaurants that Washington has ever had to offer. We have the best arts scene the city has ever had."
Limpert took over Washingtonian in 1969, after a year's fellowship under then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
"I just fell in love with Washington," he said.
In 1979, Publisher Philip Merrill bought the magazine. The partnership between the two men ushered in the magazine's golden age, as its writers and staff took home shelves of journalism awards. Its audience was affluent, well educated, and were given a steady monthly diet of long-form, compelling stories that told them about everything from White House machinations to the best crabs in the region. But like many print businesses, the magazine has suffered in recent years as its readership aged and younger types turned to the Internet.
In 2006, Merrill boarded his luxury yacht, carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, and killed himself. That left the magazine in the hands of his daughter, Catherine Merrill Williams, and she and Graff have formed a close working relationship.
Graff said he wants to synthesize the old media with the new. It may not be as hard as it looks, he said.
"You're seeing this evolution now -- Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo -- where they look more like traditional news operations and you're seeing a lot of traditional news organizations -- Politico being the prime example -- that's looking a lot more like a blog."
The announcement left some veteran Washingtonians feeling like an era was passing. Writer Harry Jaffe, also an Examiner columnist, called Limpert "a genius."
"He understood the audience and gave people from all over the region -- whether it was Howard County or Fairfax County or the District -- a sense of community," he said.
