Cincinnati Magazine

	Jay Stowe, Editor Cincinnati native Jay Stowe began his career at Smart Magazine in New York in the fall of 1990 as an associate editor. Within three months, Smart folded, and Stowe managed to land a job as an editorial assistant at Esquire, where he worked until 1993. From Esquire he went to Spin, where he edited the front of the book, music and pop culture criticism, and features. In 1995, he joined The New York Observer as a senior editor, where he wrote and reported the Off the Record media column, edited feature stories, and generally had the best time of his life as a journalist so far. (It was even better than being a soda jerk at Graeter’s, which he once was.) In 1999, he took a job with Outside Magazine, serving as features editor and then executive editor until 2004, when he left to edit Cincinnati Magazine. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in history.
	Linda Vaccariello, Executive Editor Linda Vaccariello sold her first freelance story to Cincinnati Magazine in 1983 and jumped aboard as a full-time staff writer in 1986. Back then she was, inexplicably, charged with reporting on fashion. Eventually someone actually looked at the way she was dressed and took her off the beat, a change that has allowed her to explore a colorful array of people, ideas, and events in print. She has written about politicians, pornographers, and Jerry Springer, among other subjects, and considers herself fortunate to have worked for four fine editors in her 20 years with the magazine. She didn’t grow up around here, but the first time she visited in the late 1970s, she was smitten. “I went to a Reds game, ate at a fabulous restaurant, and enjoyed the view from the Playhouse in the Park. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this could be a great place to live!’ ” she recalls. “And I was right.”
	Amanda Boyd Walters, Deputy Editor This deputy doesn’t carry a gun, but she does have a badge. As the enforcer of deadlines, style rules, and copy flow procedures, the toy deputy sheriff badge stuck on Amanda Boyd Walters’s computer is fitting. When she’s not laying down the law, she edits Cincinnati Magazine’s dining coverage, including the main reviews, plus the Escape, Creative Class, and West Side Story departments. She also reports, writes, and/or edits many of Cincinnati Magazine’s reader-service stories, including those on neighborhoods, shopping, and travel. Walters is a graduate of Ohio University and spent five years at Writer’s Digest before joining the magazine’s staff in 2000.
	Kathleen Doane, Senior Editor Kathleen Doane joined the staff of Cincinnati Magazine in 1998 as managing editor. In her current position, she covers the arts with a monthly column, Creative Class, and writes features on Greater Cincinnati’s fine arts scene. Prior to coming to the magazine, she worked in New York City for two years as operations manager for a company that did art– and architectural–themed tours throughout Europe. Doane had a long career at The Cincinnati Enquirer, where she worked as assistant features editor, overseeing lifestyle reporters. She also did a stint at USA Today in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music and the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
	Kathy Y. Wilson, Senior Editor Sentence-slinger, closet poet, and teacher, Kathy Y. Wilson is a former staff writer for the city’s alternative weekly, Cincinnati CityBeat, where she was responsible for the widely loathed but obsessively read award-winning column, Your Negro Tour Guide. Her collected columns and commentaries, Your Negro Tour Guide: Truths In Black and White (2004, Emmis Books), is in its second paperback printing and has been adapted for the stage as a one-woman monologue. She began as a freelancer for Cincinnati Magazine in early 2006, before becoming a senior editor in July 2007. Wilson is an adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Cincinnati, where she teaches columns and reviews. Barring a recount, she is the unofficial Mayor of East Walnut Hills.
	Aiesha D. Little, Associate Editor Aiesha D. Little began her magazine career as a special sections intern for Cincinnati Magazine while pursuing a master’s in English literature at Xavier University. She worked her way up to editorial assistant before leaving for Chicago, where she became the associate editor for EdTech, a K–12 education technology quarterly. She returned as Cincinnati Magazine’s associate editor in October 2004. Before switching to magazines, Little worked for several newspapers including The Detroit News and The Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal. When the Michigan native isn’t overseeing the fact checking team, managing the editorial interns, editing the calendar section, producing content for the Web site, or writing features and departments, you can find her trolling the city’s bars and clubs for good jazz music.
	Katherine L. Sontag, Associate Editor A lot can happen in a year. In January 2005, Katherine L. Sontag was an editorial intern for Cincinnati Magazine. Shortly after graduating from the University of Cincinnati that spring, she headed to New York City, where she worked as a freelance editorial assistant (alongside former Cincinnati Magazine editor Kitty Morgan) at food lifestyle start-up Every Day with Rachael Ray. When the longing for UDF soft-serve ice cream became too great—and her shopping sprees at Bloomingdale’s and H&M too many—she moved back to town, joining the Cincinnati Magazine staff in December 2005. While editing the calendar listings, writing features and departments, overseeing the Intersection and Necessities pages, and fact checking keeps things interesting, the North Carolina native is also passionate about coffeeshop hopping, thrift store pillaging, supporting the local music scene, bird watching, and the em dash.
	Brent Donaldson, Associate Editor Brent Donaldson spent years waiting tables, schlepping books at the downtown library, and crunching numbers at a marketing firm before pushing life’s giant reset button and returning to school. In 2005, he graduated magna cum laude from Northern Kentucky University, earning the Chair’s Award in journalism. Donaldson’s magazine infancy was spent as a special sections intern for Cincinnati Magazine, and he cut his teeth freelancing for us before coming on board in January 2006. Today, he functions as dining reporter, fact checker, Newsmaker and City View editor, and department and feature writer. Outside of writing, the Chicago native relishes time spent with his wife and their 3-year-old son, Brando, who, like his dad, plays the drums like a caveman.
	Donna Covrett, Dining Editor After a childhood of journaling her family’s meals, 20 years as a pastry chef, and five years as dining editor for the alt-weekly Cincinnati CityBeat, Donna Covrett joined Cincinnati Magazine in 2005, intent on connecting even more citizens around the table of Cincinnati's growing foodscape. In addition to an obsession with exploring the nuances and neurosis of our relationship with food, Donna lives a fractured fairytale of consuming passions: yoga, art and design, authentic dialogue and the written word, music, all things Italian, shoes, office supply stores, and a keen fascination with knives.
	Grace Saunders, Art Director The second time’s the charm for Art Director Grace Saunders. This DAAP grad’s first job, with Inspire Magazine, gave her an appreciation for print design and led her to Coho Creative, where she worked on package designs for everything from BallPark Franks to specialty brew beers. However, magazines had a hold on her, so she interviewed here at CM, but ended up at Cincinnati Gentlemen. When CG folded and was subsequently purchased by Reach Magazine, Saunders landed at Cincinnati Magazine. She and her husband, Ben, live in Northern Kentucky with their dog, Émigré. “She’s named after a type foundry,” Saunders says, “like a good designer’s dog.” Saunders oversees the design of the entire magazine as well as working on the magazine's Web site.
	Steve Smith, Custom Publishing Editor Born and raised in Cincinnati, Steve Smith started small as a writer for the Princeton High School newspaper. After briefly considering a career in public relations, Smith realized his true calling and went on to complete a B.A. in Journalism from Ohio University. Following a seven-year tenure with GIE Media, a Cleveland-based trade magazine publisher, Smith moved on to serve as Senior Editor of The Artist’s Magazine at F+W Publications. He then joined the team at Cincinnati Magazine in 2006 as Custom Publishing Editor. Smith manages and writes for Cincinnati Magazine's ancillary publications, including Cincinnati Wedding, Cincinnati Look and the Cincinnati USA Visitors Guide and Cincinnati USA City Guide, along with magazine inserts like the Lindner Quarterly Report and the program for the Ault Park Concours d’Elegance (where he gets to practice his hobby of vintage car-watching). Steve lives in Cincinnati with his wife Alison and their dog Bourbon (who hails from that famous Kentucky county) and cat Cowan (rescued from Cowan Lake State Park).
	Marnie Hayutin, Special Sections Editor, Home & Garden Editor After a long career as a freelance writer, Marnie Hayutin feels right at home as Home & Garden and Special Sections Editor. Originally from Denver, she and her husband, Steve, moved to Cincinnati in 1996 (yes, he works for P&G). Within a year, she added Cincinnati Magazine to her list of clients, and in 2005 she joined the staff full-time. Home & Garden writing is a true passion for Hayutin, whose memorable features over the years have included an exclusive glimpse of Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel’s home kitchen and a tour of Cincinnati’s famous stained-glass windows. Hayutin received both her B.S.J and M.S.J degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and she taught journalism for six years at Northern Kentucky University. When she’s not writing about other people’s houses, she’s at home working on her own. “There are only so many articles you can write about bamboo flooring before you want it for yourself,” she says.
	Dani Johnson, Custom Publishing Art Director, Cincinnati Magazine & Creative Director, Cincinnati Wedding and Cincinnati Look After receiving her graphic design degree from the University of Cincinnati—Raymond Walters College, Dani Johnson started at Cincinnati Magazine in 1999 as an Art Assistant. Since then, she’s moved from Art Assistant to Advertising Designer, Production Associate, and was named Special Sections Art Director in 2003. She was named to her current position as Custom Publishing Art Director in 2007. In this role, Johnson oversees design concepts and article layouts for several Custom Publishing projects each year, including the Cincinnati USA Official Visitors Guide, Destination Planning Guide, City Guide and Chamber Business Connections. She also serves as the Creative Director for Cincinnati Wedding and Cincinnati Look. Johnson lives in Monroe with her husband Kevin (also a graphic designer) and their two children, 1-year-old Andrew and 5-year-old Bailey, who are her “second full-time job.”
	Jesse Combs, Special Sections Art Director Cincinnati native Jesse Combs started her design career at The Lancaster Eagle Gazette. In May 2005 she joined Cincinnati Magazine as an Art Associate, and then quickly graduated to Special Sections Designer. Most recently, Combs became Special Sections Art Director, and heads up design for Social Datebook and Home & Garden. When she’s not designing projects for Special Sections, this self-described sports freak is cheering her favorite Reds player Ryan Freel. Combs lives in Mt. Lookout with her lovable and slightly overweight cat, Jerry.
	Jessica Brown, Special Projects Associate Editor Originally from Indianapolis, Jessica Brown headed north to the land of the Fighting Irish where she earned a B.A. in political science. But it was her time writing for the college newspaper and several media-related internships that carried her to Indiana University for a master’s in Journalism. While pursuing her master’s degree, Brown interned with Cincinnati Magazine. She joined the Cincinnati Magazine staff full-time as Special Sections Associate Editor in 2004. Brown’s responsibilities include writing, editing and fact checking for both the Special Sections and Custom Publishing divisions of Cincinnati Magazine. She especially enjoys heading up the annual Social Datebook section because it allows her to learn about the multitude of Cincinnati nonprofits. Brown lives in Cincinnati with her husband Aaron and their dog, Jackie.
	Sue Goldberg, Special Sections Assistant Editor Sue Goldberg came to Cincinnati Magazine in January 2006 as a special sections intern, and eventually signed on as a contributing writer. She quickly worked her way up to Assistant Editor in June 2007, and spends her time writing departments, features and profiles, fact-checking articles and working on Social Datebook and other Special Sections publications. Sue lives near Cincinnati with her husband Michael and her 8-year-old daughter, Mercie. Her two older daughters, Arielle and Gracia, are studying Journalism at the University of Cincinnati and Linguistics at Ohio State University, respectively. Sue’s newest passion (besides AP format, of course) is community gardening, which she adds to her long list of local volunteer work.