Ann Mackenzie has been the heart and soul of the Bulletin for nearly forty years. What an extraordinary achievement! It is one all the more rare because Ann has been able in that time to maintain her output of publications at the forefront of Golden-Age Hispanism, and when on ‘active service’ a full teaching commitment as well. It is probably fair to say that the Bulletin would have been grievously impeded in its progress had it not been for Ann's exceptional dedication to both the short-term and long-term demands of the journal.
The most extraordinary change that has come about under Ann's enlightened stewardship has been the steady increase in output over those years, from four issues to ten per annum. This has meant negotiating a long series of agreements with publishers, and Ann has been at the centre of each one of these. Luck, no doubt, plays as much a part in life as judgment, and the Bulletin’s close relationship with Taylor & Francis, which has brought the Bulletin to its current situation of stability and increased influence, has in part been the fortunate result of the good human chemistry between the respective negotiators, of which Ann was always one; but there is no doubt that Ann's tact and tenacity played a huge part in the delivery of long-term contracts between the parties. It may seem unthinkable that a publisher such as Taylor & Francis, with several thousand journals in its portofolio, would engage at the highest level in face-to-face boardroom talks with one individual Hispanist journal, the talks then rounded off with a pleasant dinner hosted by the publisher. Yes, luck has played its part, but Ann's unerring judgment has also come into play, her skill at arranging the best possible environment for the overall encounter, and her delicacy in finding the right balance between business and social interaction: all have been to the fore in these meetings.
In this era of emails and attachments it is all too easy to rely on a quick one-sided reaction to a situation, and to put matters aside until the reply, but Ann stood by the much more personal use of the telephone, realized the power and humanity of spoken contact, and used it in this way when the personal touch was needed. The Bulletin Editors, backed by its steadfast Chairman and Board of Trustees, have, with Ann, usually seen themselves to be part of an extended family of fairly like-minded people. This compatibility was fostered by Ann, who was aware of the fact that the Editors were scattered in different parts of the country, and indeed in different, although neighbouring, countries. Ann has been the linchpin holding the structure together. Although she would never accept the title of Editor-in-Chief, the rest of the Editors instinctively felt that Ann was just that. But as long as Ann is working for the Bulletin she will continue to see herself as one among equals, so that the most recent editorial recruit will enjoy the sense of joining a group that shares things equally, from the longest serving member of the team to its newest arrival.
Both in the quality of her service to the Bulletin and the quantity of time devoted to it, Ann's editorship is and will be a landmark in the journal's history, on a par with E. Allison Peers’ foundational work in 1923 and his more than twenty-five years’ dedication afterwards, ensuring that it would survive the difficult years of the Depression and World War II. Because of Ann we can add to ‘survive’ the word ‘thrive’, since this has been her major contribution to the Bulletin: taking Peers’ journal onto new levels of excellence and influence. Thanks to Ann the continued publication of the Bulletin makes it comfortably one of the oldest existing Hispanist journals, and it shows every sign of hitting its centenary with renewed vigour, participating in the huge changes in the editorial and academic world of learned journals with confidence and aplomb. Thank you, Ann, for your inspired, yet gentle and unassuming leadership of the Bulletin: you have made all those of us associated with both you and the journal pleased and proud to have had the opportunity it has given us to work with such a dedicated, humane team. May the Bulletin continue to receive your wise guidance and unflappable commitment ad multos annos.
The Editors
October 2015.