Re: Remembering Peter Banks

[Carter Glass <cglass@agu.org>]

 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