Charles Apple

Let’s pause today to offer the happiest of VizEds birthday wishes to Bonita Burton, Assistant Managing Editor of The Orlando Sentinel. Bonita turns 37 today.

Bonita, her lieutenant, Stephen Komives and the
space shuttle. Rumor has it that Bonita and
Stephen will be running NASA any day now.
Well, not really. But if they did, the shuttle
program would probably run more smoothly,
safely and come in under budget. Photo stolen
from Bonita’s web page by the awesome
William Couch.
—

In October, Bonita was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Society for News Design for 2008, meaning she’s in line to be president of the Society in 2010. Bonita was SND’s Quick Course chair from 2001 to 2004.

Bonita has been at the Sentinel for a little more than three years. Previously, she spent four years as Business Design Director of The San Jose Mercury News.

Before that, Bonita worked as a designer for The Orange County Register and The L.A. Daily News and as a reporter for The Union-Democrat of Sonora, Calif., and The Herald-Journal of Logan, Utah.

Bonita is a 1993 graduate of Utah State University. She also studied at Brigham Young’s Rexburg, Idaho, campus.

In fact, here’s a little something from graduation day at BYU-Idaho in 1991:

Bonita in 1991 (left) and today. Both photos
are stolen from her Facebook profile; the one
one the left is from Lee Warnick.
—

Bo is one of the warmest, kindest people I know. She seems to have sixth sense that causes her to know just the right time to brighten one’s day with a comforting and encouraging e-mail. I don’t think I would have made it through the past couple of months without her.

One of her 2007 hires, William Couch, says this:

It’s rare you meet an individual like Bonita — not only does she have a keen visual eye and the ability to get down to serious business, but she also knows how to have a load of fun. The newsroom is constantly jealous of the Visuals area because we know how to have a good time (and produce inspired work), and that’s certainly fostered by Bo’s leadership and character. She will be dearly missed in the coming days of the birth of her new child. Happy birthday, Bo!

Many of you are aware that Bo is preparing to have her second child. In fact, the due date is Wednesday. Friday was her last day in the newsroom:

Bo at her newsroom party on
Friday. Photo by William Couch.
—

Here are a few examples of work done by Bonita’s staff in Orlando:

And here are examples of Bonita’s own work from her years in San Jose:

See more on her personal web page.

Bonita shares a birthday with historical figures Benedict Arnold, Albert Schweitzer and Julian Bond, entertainer LL Cool J, director Steven Soderbergh, modern-day journalist Maureen Dowd and 18th-Century journalist Andy Rooney.

Plus, today is national Dress Up Your Pet Day. Seriously!

Best wishes for a happy birthday, Bonita!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 9:02 am and is filed under Happy birthday, News design, VizEds Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.