This file is copyright (c) 1997 The Philalethes Society and all rights
including any redistribution rights are reserved by the copyright holder.
Permission to quote from, redistribute or to otherwise use these materials
must be obtained from the copyright holder directly by contacting The
Philalethes, Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt
Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel: 416-293-8071 Fax: 416-293-8634 or
nking@freemasonry.org or nking@onramp.ca




In Search an Editor

The sudden and untimely death of the
great Masonic Editor, Jerry Marsengill,
has left The Philalethes Society with a
void it will be difficult to fill. Indeed, the
void may never be completely covered;
the loss may never be completely rem-
edied. He was a genius in the field of
Masonic knowledge.

But the Society must seek out the best
man possible for the job of Editor of our
excellent magazine, The Philalethes. It is a
debt that is owed to its 4300 members,
over 800 of them Life Members. They
deserve the best we have to offer.

In working with Mas Media to publish
the February issue I went over the stack
of material Jerry had accumulated for
possible publication. I found Jerry had
been extremely generous in his accep-
tance of material. Some of the stuff he
practically had to rewrite! Spelling and
grammar were too often atrocious.
Single spaced and poorly typed articles
were rampant. Two articles running
from 12 to 17 pages were made up of a
single paragraph! Several items were
typed completely in caps. Most of them
were single spaced. Too ofterl I was left
cold! Too many commas and periods
were placed outside quotation marks.
Jerry (and his good wife Betty) had spent
hours making them suitable for the
printer.

How long I'll be acting as editor will
depend on how long it takes to find the
right man for the job. The job is the most
crucial we have in the Society. The search
will not be rushed. So, in the meantime
here are my criteria for the submission
of articles for possible publication:

I . They must be thoroughly researched
for correctness of statements; 2. They
must be typed on one side of the paper,
double spaced, in upper and lower case



(in case you need an example, look at
what you're reading); 3. Footnotes, if
they are used (I prefer references within
the body of the article) must be re-
searched for accuracy; 4. Paragraphs of
various sizes make for easier reading; 5.
Periods and commas must be placed in-
side quotation marks, colons and semi-
colons do go on the outside (honest men
can disagree on capitalization, but all
style manuals I've read insist on this
punctuation -- and so shall I); 6. Opin-
ions (and we're opposed to censorship)
should be well thought out; 7. All articles
must be Masonically connected (this is a
Masonic publication), 8. We are pub-
lishing a magazine, not a book, therefore
articles must be limited in length (2,000
to 3,000 words are ideal).

Minimum requirements for the
Editor of The Philalethes

The Philalethes Society was formed in
1928 to protect Masonic writers and Edi-
tors from bigoted Masonic leadership.
Its goal was to develop a publication that
could and would publish varying view-
points concerning Freemasonry. Cen-
sorship was to be avoided; however, the
Editor must know the difference between
"good taste" and outright tirades.

These are the minimum requirements
we must look for in an Editor of The
Philalethes magazine:

I . Have a broad knowledge of Freema-
sonry.

2. Know how to write!

3. Know how to spell.
4. Experience with a computer would

be helpful.

5. Be able to get along with people.
6. Strongly believe in the principles of

Freemasonry and the Society.

7. Hold allegiance to Freemasonry,
not some appendant body (e.g., Scot-
tish Rite/Royal Arch/or some off-

shoot). This does not mean he cannot
be an officer or member of other bod-
ies. All of the officers of the Executive
Board belong to many bodies that have
attached themselves to the parent, but
all are first and foremost Freemasons.
8. Be able to deuote the time necessary to do
the job properly.

The Editor will be reimbursed for his
necessary expenses, and will receive a
pittance for a salary. He will eventually
become a Fellow of The Philalethes
Society, if he isn't already. He will be a
member of the Executive Board and will
be expected to attend the yearly and
semi-annual meetings of the Society.

Interested? Contact the Executive
Secretary at the address on the mast-
head.

The Philalethes, February 1992
