I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard, or said, the phrase, “it’s the end of an era” in recent years.
I suspect COVID has a lot to do with that.
Prior to the pandemic, many things felt much more stable, or certain. Pique’s little newsroom had seen minimal turnover for years, and we had grown comfortable in our respective lanes. Then one day we all went home and never came back—at least not in the same makeup.
Friends were laid off. Others quit, moved home. And I’ll never forget the exact moment I realized, laying there on my couch in the middle of a workday, in week three or four of pandemic unease, that things would never be the same—that it was the end of an era.
As humans, we are naturally averse to change. It’s uncomfortable and makes us anxious; forces us to adapt or think on our feet; find new ways of existing safely and soundly in our surroundings.
Wouldn’t it be great if, once we found our nice little corner of the universe to exist, we could just keep it like that forever? Sure. But life doesn’t work that way.
The announced retirement of Pique’s former editor, Clare Ogilvie, in late 2021, was another watershed moment in our recent history. And again the phrase was bandied about: It’s the end of an era.
And it was. And if you think it wasn’t scary for me to consider the prospect of stepping into her shoes—of putting out this paper each week without her—well, you’re wrong.
But we adapt. Learn, grow, evolve, and before long our new situation, so abjectly terrifying at first, isn’t so scary. It becomes the new normal, to borrow another overused phrase of recent years.
And so when I heard someone recently refer to the departure of longtime Pique presence Alyssa Noel, who is moving back to Alberta to be closer to family, as “the end of an era,” I wasn’t surprised, or phased. It’s no doubt true, and Alyssa will be dearly missed. But eras end. They wouldn’t be proper eras if they didn’t.
This week, longtime Pique columnist, the inimitable G.D. Maxwell, pens his final piece for the paper, after more than a quarter century and an astounding 1,500 instalments of his back-page column, Maxed Out.
In that span, Max has informed us, enlightened us, entertained us, and ruffled more than a few feathers at Whistler’s municipal hall and beyond, no doubt compiling a long list of haters and enemies. But the number of loyal readers who would list themselves as fans is immeasurably greater, both here in Whistler and far beyond our borders (and if you ever need proof, just forget to upload his column to Pique’s website on time—his readers will let you hear about it).
Pique reporter Brandon Barrett has a favourite anecdote, of a time he was working out of the Squamish Chief offices, and a man walked in, picked up a Pique, tore out Max’s column, and left the rest of the paper on the stand. You can’t buy that kind of reader loyalty.
Love him or hate him, his learned local insights regularly sparked valuable community discussion inside the Whistler bubble, as he publicly challenged the questionable or outright bad decisions often made behind closed doors here in Whistler. Every town needs a little bit of informed rabble-rousing every now and then.
But he also knew when it was time for something lighter, something irreverent, or when our officials deserved praise, and was never afraid to call out his own mistakes, rare as they might be.
As far as eras go, the one that included Max’s weekly words here in Whistler will be difficult to top, or even match, and his byline will be dearly missed on Pique’s back page.
As an editor, there are few things as comforting as a solid, reliable hand, and Max’s was as steady as they come. So thank you, Max—and here’s to a well-earned retirement, and even more time for skiing.
The flipside of the phrase, “it’s the end of an era,” is that (barring an end-of-days, Earth-destroying meteorite), another era must follow. And while change is unsettling, it also carries with it an air of excitement and possibility, and the question of what comes next.
In Pique’s case, the plan is to add to our roster of local voices.
Beginning next week, you’ll find our weekly Pique’n Yer Interest column relocated to the back page, and in the weeks to come, a whole rotation of new and familiar faces will be tasked with filling the space that was Max’s for so many years.
As legend has it, Max earned his column from Pique’s founding editor Bob Barnett after consistently sending entertaining letters to the editor for publication in the paper. Bob apparently liked Max’s letters so much, he offered him his own column.
Is there another Max out there in Whistler? An incisive, informed mind, with a quick wit and a way with words? Our letters section is always open, if you think you’ve got what it takes.
For now, here’s to Max, and the end of another era.
On to the next.
