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Re: Remembering Peter Banks



From the Washington Post:

Publisher Moved His Field Miles Ahead

By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 5, 2007; C07

Peter Banks was regarded as a rare innovator in association publishing, an industry stereotyped as offering magazines that appear little more than a member-benefit throwaway.

Yet in his 20-year career as a publishing executive with the American Diabetes Association -- notably overseeing its flagship magazine, Diabetes Forecast -- Banks distinguished himself.

He championed journalism principles more associated with for-profit magazines: attractive layouts, sprightly features and thoughtful editorial coverage of scientific developments.

"He's made the members-only association publication a pass-along phenomenon," Folio, the magazine publishing trade journal, wrote of Banks last year when Folio placed him among the 40 most-influential leaders in his field.

Folio said Diabetes Forecast's members-only subscriptions were about 460,000 but actual readership was more than 4 million. Diabetes Forecast was suddenly competitive with such for-profit competitors as Diabetes Self-Management.

"He really started bringing quality and respectability to association publishing," said Matthew K. Kinsman, managing editor of Folio. "He was very concerned for the audience, not only for association members, but also people who weren't members and could benefit."

According to the ADA, more than 20 million adults and children have various types of diabetes, which develops when the body does not produce sufficient insulin or when certain tissues become insensitive to insulin's effects. Unmanaged, the disease can lead to blindness and amputations.

Banks, 52, who died of colon cancer July 21 at his home in Fairfax City, was a biochemist-turned-science-writer. A Connecticut native, he joined the ADA in 1986 and moved quickly into management. He was publisher from 1999 until he left in 2006 to start his own publishing consulting business.

Banks oversaw the transformation of Diabetes Forecast from a 64-page bimonthly that was equal parts color and black-and-white into a color monthly with more than double the page count.

He introduced original fiction to its Kids' Corner section -- inspirational tales of youngsters with diabetes who, for example, solve a mystery or overcome fear of an insulin shot. The association published many of the stories in a book, "The Dinosaur Tamer and Other Stories for Children With Diabetes" (1995).

Banks added modern recipes tested by a professional food writer. He emphasized the need to picture people on the cover instead of abstract designs. He also helped start a Spanish version of Diabetes Forecast to reach what he considered an underserved population.

He was an early advocate of making the magazine available online to reach his core audiences: those with diabetes and the medical community. He also recognized the fact that the Internet meant readers had more places to get their information, which he said challenged his magazine to become more relevant and enjoyable.

"He wanted the practical, the things that would be directly useful to the person with diabetes," said Marcia Levine Mazur, a retired Diabetes Forecast senior editor.

Banks wanted to enable his readers, encouraging them, for example: "With medical developments, what should you ask your doctor about?" Mazur said.

He also "recast the way the recipes were listed. He explained what good the food would do for you, how it fit into a diabetes food plan."

She added that he shunned the word "diet," with its negative connotations, and used instead "food plan," to accent a more positive idea of taking control over one's health.

Last year, Banks left the association during a change in upper management. But even before that, he had emerged as an outspoken figure in the debate over free and immediate access to medical and scientific research papers.

"Peter reminded people that health literacy is low [and] Internet access is still a privilege," said Aime Ballard-Wood, a former managing editor of the ADA's medical journals. "If you want to help the average person with a chronic disease, you're not necessarily helping them by making an article free. You have to provide interpretation."

At his death, Banks was involved with an effort called patientINFORM -- started by commercial and nonprofit publishers as well as voluntary health organizations including the diabetes association -- to identify new findings from scholarly journals, interpret the material on their own Web sites and provide a free link to the original research.

Throughout his career, Banks was known for leaving plenty of room in his family life -- he was married for 27 years and had two children -- and outside hobbies. He encouraged those who worked for him to do the same.

Not especially athletic in his youth, he decided at age 40 to take up marathon running to raise money for diabetes. He also became director and head coach of a running program for children age 5 to 14, sponsored by the Fairfax Police Youth Club.

"He loved working with kids who were struggling more, either behaviorally or with their athletic confidence," said his wife, psychotherapist Lucy Banks. "He'd run with these little kids, talking to them, 'Look at how well you're doing! We're almost there.' "

--
Carter Glass
Manager Electronic Publishing Development
American Geophysical Union
2000 Florida Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20009-1277
Phone: 202-777-7519
Email: Cglass@agu.org