Moves and a hire at Los Angeles

I’ve got three exciting pieces of news to share in editorial:

Matt Segal is becoming executive editor of the magazine. Matt has been the features editor for almost two years now—and was the managing editor for nine years prior to that. I can’t imagine someone more deserving of the title. Matt is an extraordinary editor—thoughtful and perceptive, as adept at shaping a 150-word story as he is a 10,000-word one, a fierce defender of writers and the most gifted repeat-word monitor on the planet. I say this as someone who has benefited as a writer from his sharp eye many a time. He’s also one of the most flexible editors we have, overseeing profiles like that of a teenage porn star or an eco-terrorist and editing Best of LA issues, Patric’s award-winning restaurant criticism, our travel coverage, Hollywoodland (he likes to think that his understated manner masks his wicked wit, but we know he’s funny), even the Mail page. On top of that he writes, too, most recently a terrific piece in the January issue about renegade bike culture in L.A. He was integral to conceptualizing our redesign and has been involved every step of the way in the architecture of the magazine. Prior to working at the magazine Matt was the managing editor of Buzz Weekly and senior editor of Men’s Fitness. I’d encourage him to “Break a Leg” in his new role, but given his track record, let’s leave it at, “Congratulations!”

Rick Meyer will now be the Articles Editor for the magazine. Rick came aboard in January 2008, after a short stint (28 years or something) at the Los Angeles Times. To say that we were lucky to get him is an understatement; that he and Matt will now be overseeing features and backreading all copy that goes into the magazine is beyond fortunate. Since joining the magazine he has expertly shepherded many memorable stories, from our Mirthala Salinas scoop to the Zankou Chicken murders story to the tale of a tragic death on Terminal Island. But it’s not all drama: Rick was the editor who first suggested we find a Disneyland character to tell all last summer, resulting in the most heavily trafficked piece ever on our Web site. Rick is not only one of the most talented editors in America—his last years at the Times he oversaw the paper’s most ambitious features, including two series that won Pulitzer Prizes—but suffice to say he’s a pretty darn good writer, too: He has twice been a Pulitzer finalist in feature writing. If you want to mess with him (or at least have him pull one of his Arizona proverbs on you), walk by his office and wish him well in his new nightlife beat (just kidding). That said, the day we get him to send his first Tweet, the Guinnesses are on me at Tom Bergin’s.

Lastly, Amy Wallace is coming home. She will be rejoining the magazine as Editor-at-Large on July 6. In this part-time editing role, Amy will be recruiting new writers and working with them, building our industry, political, and lifestyle coverage, participating in editorial planning, projects, and meetings, and helping conceptualize special issues. She was most recently at Portfolio, where she covered Hollywood and business; before that, she oversaw a team of writers and editors covering entertainment and technology at the LA Times. Her work has appeared in Esquire, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Elle, Men’s Journal, you name it. We know her well for her years here at the magazine, where she filled the halls with her effervescent spirit and energy and the pages of the magazine with her brilliant (and much discussed) stories on anything from plastic surgery to fourth wives’ clubs to the exploits of a certain trade magazine editor named Peter Bart. For those of you who have worked with her before, I know this comes as welcome news, as she’s one of the most affable and knowledgeable editors in the city; for those of you who haven’t, you have a treat in store.

Please join me in congratulating them on this great news for the magazine.

Mary