More than 125 years ago, journalists William H. Hills and Robert Luce had a mission. They wanted to help writers think practically and expansively about their work and support the emergence and proliferation of storytelling on the page. So they did what any information-driven team of the late 19th century would do: They founded a magazine.

Sounds crazy these days – with the print industry and the very trees themselves in peril. And yet, and yet. Those were the days of Buffalo Bill Cody, of new colleges sprouting up, of patents and operas and baseball games that would captivate the nation. Anything must have seemed possible.

The magazine those two intrepid Boston Globe reporters founded, the magazine you are holding in your hands – or reading on your tablet or smart-phone or computer – has survived. And while other magazines have folded, The Writer keeps traveling through time – and space.

In 2000, Kalmbach Publishing moved the magazine west to the Milwaukee area, and for a dozen years, this publication thrived under that organization’s careful and caring watch. When Madavor Media, based in Quincy Mass., saw the opportunity to return the magazine to the Boston area, it jumped. Madavor brought The Writer back to its origins with the goal of taking it through the next stages of 21st century – while tipping a hat to history. 

For the last two months, staff members at Kalmbach and Madavor have collaborated on this issue of The Writer, working to continue – with as little interruption as possible – the advice, support and inspiration our readers have come to expect for more than a century. Writers matter to us. The Writer matters to us. You matter to us.

We are delighted and proud the magazine has maintained its “continuously published” status with little more than a hiccup. (This is a combined issue; in January, we’ll resume monthly publication.) Our founders – Hills and Luce – were right. Writers need encouragement, support, advice and connection. Kalmbach provided this. Madavor honors that tradition and is poised to sustain and  expand the magazine for another century. And beyond – because, when it comes to writers and writing, anything still seems possible.