As we conclude our twenty-first year of publication, we would
like to answer a question we are often asked:
namely, How do we do it? The New Criterion has a tiny
staff: how do we manage to bring you some of the freshest,
best written, and most illuminating criticism anywhere month
after month, year after year? There are two parts to the
answer. One is our writers. We are fortunate indeed in
having been able to attract such good writers: young, old,
and in-between. It is they who fill our pages and make us grateful as much
for their engaging prose as for their fructifying insights.

But that is only part of the answer.
The other part concerns the growing family of friends who support The
New Criterion. It is gratifying
to be able to take this opportunity to thank them publicly:
the several foundations who first made our work
possible, and those many individuals who have helped us in
more recent years. We would like to thank in particular
all those belonging to the Friends of The New Criterion,
especially those who helped us with major special events this
year: Paul Healy, Joseph and Sharon Hartmann, Donald
and Patricia Oresman, Carol Selle, and William and Arete Warren. We wish
also to thank
C. B. Wright for his generous long-term
support. And we are grateful above all to Donald Kahn, whose
extraordinary generosity has helped secure the future of
The New Criterion. To all of you we offer our profound
thanks.