Charles Apple

I want to pause a moment today to offer up happy Monday birthday wishes to my old friend Ken Mowry, who, for a lot of reasons, is responsible for a good portion of my career.

Let me explain.

Ken was graphics editor of The News & Observer from 1992 ’till about 1997. He had previously been at The Lexington Herald Leader and then assistant graphics editor with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

I was at a tiny little paper in Rock Hill, S.C. (circ: 30,000) and in charge of one other artist. I redesigned the paper and really enjoyed my work. And I learned a lot about journalism and leadership from the most excellent Terry Plumb, who retired as editor of The Herald earlier this year.

But after five years in Rock Hill, I was ready for my next career step.

I figured I could run a small staff of my own. I interviewed for graphics editor positions at two small papers. It was just a matter of time before I found the right job.

But then, the day after my daugher, Elizabeth, was born in February 1993, Ken called. He had just moved to The N&O and was putting together a staff. Although it wasn’t really what I was looking for, he talked me into taking a chance and trying a staff job at a larger newspaper instead. And the experience changed my life.

I had always reported to an editor or a word person. Now, suddenly, I had a real art director for a boss.

Ken was patient, encouraging and empowering. He let me come up with some of the craziest ideas and then he’d go fight for them. You’d all be lucky to work for a boss like Ken.

Thanks to his guidance and his trust, I found myself doing some pretty decent work — much higher-quality stuff than I had ever thought myself capable of creating. I won two SND awards in 1994. The next year, I won two more, plus two Malofiej awards, plus an award from Adobe. I found myself recruited by some of the largest newspapers in the nation. Within a ten-month period in 1996 and 1997, I interviewed at The Virginian-Pilot, The Newark Star-Ledger, the Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Charlotte Observer and The New York Times.

This was an incredible experience for a small-time operator from the backwoods of South Carolina. And I owe it all to Ken. Who the hell knew I was capable of work like that? Certainly not me.

But Ken knew.

Now, fourteen-plus years later, I’m having a fine career –one much nicer than I had ever hoped. Much of that success is due to the direction and encouragement Ken gave me; to the values and respect for people he demonstrated. If I could only be half the teacher Ken was.

I left for Chicago in 1996. Ken left a year later and worked for TotalSports.com, which later became roadkill in the great dot-com implosion. The skills he honed there led Ken to a career in online retail — first with Kohl’s and then with Sears. Last year, Ken became a senior vice-president in the tech side for the Bank of America in Charlotte. God only knows how many people he oversees in that position.

And it doesn’t surprise me a bit. The man is golden.

Ken shares a birthday with Richard Petty, Jose Conseco, Thurgood Marshall and Lindsay Lohan. Now there’s an eclectic mix for you. Plus, Monday is Visitation of the Virgin Mary Day. Seriously.

Best wishes for a happy birthday, my friend.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Charles Apple, Happy birthday, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.