This is probably a weird time to talk about this, but in the last few months, so many people have passed away that my own mortality has kind of slapped me in the face. Last month it was Prince (that was a shocker); Allen Toussaint (ditto); my old friend Louis Jay Meyers (ditto); my own mother.
Jan Ramsey
It’s a fact of life that as you age, your own mortality starts becoming a much bigger part of the way you perceive everything: your work, your family, your friends, your legacy, or lack thereof.
I ran into an old friend of mine at Jazz Fest, and we started talking about the big changes in management at WWOZ. If you’ve been under a rock for the past month and don’t know: The ’OZ staff and volunteers basically mutinied against the general manager; the station was losing its stability and focus on its mission. The station’s governance board stepped in, hired a permanent operations manager, and moved the old manager into more of an advisory role.
It was sad to see the station’s staff and volunteers angry and discouraged; perhaps the track can be put back on course now. Should WWOZ be a great radio station that preserves and celebrates local music, or be the means for a smart and ambitious general manager to create a personal legacy for himself that’s probably non-sustainable for the station over the long haul?
My friend and I started talking about OffBeat. I’ve heard over the years that what we’ve done is to create a cultural icon, an essential part of New Orleans and Louisiana music culture; we’ve educated so many people about local music, helped musicians and live music venues and culture-bearers. I’m thrilled to hear this, of course, but now I’m also thinking about the future of what I and my husband have worked so hard to create and maintain. The loss of my mother, friends and beloved musical friends have made it clear to me that OffBeat needs a legatee, someone who’s as passionate about local music as we are. Someone who will work like crazy to keep our editorial quality standards up; to do our musicians and local music and culture justice on a monthly, even a daily basis. Someone who knows the history of our music and can see its potential as a cultural and economic force into the future. Someone who can work with the business community to continue to get them to recognize the importance of music to our city and state. And finally, someone who has the work ethic and fortitude to keep the business solvent.
This is a tall order, I know. I was once told by one of our writers that there would never be anyone who worked as hard as we do for as little money as we make. It’s true, I guess. OffBeat is, and always has been, a labor of love, not a means to conquer the world, or make bazillions of dollars. Who will be our future?
