Jim Ward
Managing Editor of Design & Layout
As many of you know, Kim Zapata the previous Editor of The Point has stepped down to devote more time to other aspects of her life. We owe her an enormous debt of gratitude for her work and will miss her. She did an outstanding job and has left big shoes to fill. Perhaps that is why the APP Board has asked three of us to take over her duties. I will be sharing responsibilities with my co-editors Kendra Jane Berndt and Marina Pecorino.
The Point has been a part of APP history since its beginning in 1994–5, and I am thrilled and privileged to have been involved, on and off, for many years. The organization came into being through the tireless efforts of my Gauntlet associate, Michaela Grey, and a handful of other body mod professionals. As the pressures of government intervention reared its ugly head, these practitioners were committed to seeing that our industry would survive. The content of Issue #1 contains a great deal borrowed from Gauntlet’s piercing seminar manual.
In 1998 Gauntlet went out of business. Thankfully, by that time the APP had already become an independent entity. With Gauntlet’s demise, I withdrew into a shell. In 2003, with Issue #25, the APP reached out to me and asked me to take on the design and layout of The Point and to submit an article about Doug Malloy, who had inspired me to open Gauntlet in the first place. I continued in the designer position until 2005 when the Board decided to expand the newsletter and print it in color at which time the torch was passed to another Art Director. The printed color issues, #33 through #60, took The Point to a whole new level and brought it to a peak of professionalism worthy of the organization. I remained on the sidelines through much of this period, occasionally being asked to present at the annual Conference.
For Issue #41 (2007), then president James Weber asked my permission to reproduce the cover of an old issue of Gauntlet’s publication Piercing Fans International Quarterly (PFIQ) showing the penis piercings of Louis Rove, the gay, adoptive father of right-wing extremist Karl Rove. The only change he made was to alter the masthead to say “The Point” in the same font as the original magazine. This and every issue of The Point can be viewed and/or downloaded from the APP website, http://www.safepiercing.org/publications/the-point/back-issues/.
Like all organizations, the APP has experienced its own financial ups and downs. In 2012 in an effort to economize, as well as to keep up with current trends, departing from its print publication. The Board made the decision to produce The Point in digital format only. I was approached about taking over once again as Art Director for the newsletter and gladly accepted. My first was Issue #61 and here is issue #70. I thoroughly love doing this job for an organization I deeply admire and respect, and I hope to continue to do so for many years to come.
This is a landmark year in the world of body modification Gauntlet, the world’s first body piercing studio will turn 40 and the APP will celebrate its 20th anniversary. This issue and the next of The Point will kick off the celebration, with a dedication to this special occasion and to our annual Conference in June. We encourage every reader to make the effort to attend what is sure to be a memorable event.
