Like a hot potato, editorship changed hands nearly every year and sometimes went begging. No one wanted the job at the 1952 convention, including a previous editor, Oliver Helmrich, so Oliver's wife Ruth "consented to take over until such  time as a permanent editor is found. " The following year, still no one volunteered so the job was split among Stu Raynolds, who served as temporary editor, Ruth Jennings, who pounded out the copy on her kitchen table, and Harry Lind, who mailed it.

 

Ruth Jennings continued in her capacity for several years, and it is important to note with thanks the great contribution made to the "Newsletter" by her and other wives of IJA members.

 

The lack of continuity in editorship was both a blessing and a curse. The "Newsletter" changed focus with each editor, and news of fellow jugglers often was biased toward the editor's circle of friends - not out of malfeasance, but simply because the "Newsletter" depended so heavily on hearing from members, and editors more often than not heard from their own friends.

 

Nevertheless, by frequent changes, the "Newsletter" covered all the interests of the IJA. There were a few lengthy tenures of editors, however. Some of the prominent editors were, Vin Carey and Lou Meyer (whose joint editorship and juggling act went by the name of the 'Vinlou Brothers'), Stu Raynolds, Lane Blumenthal, Larry Weeks, Danny Rees, Roger Dollarhide and Hovey Burgess. Finally, in 1979, Bill Giduz brought continuity to the office.

 

It is a tribute to the selflessness of the editors, particularly in the early years, that research for this article was made difficult by the constant lack of mention in the "Newsletter" itself of who the editor was. And in 1954 when $100 was appropriated at the convention for payment to the editors, they spent it on an addressograph for mailing the "Newsletter." Another editor offered to donate a mimeograph machine.

 

International members contributed greatly, notably Max Koch's wonderfully received reports from post-war Germany and later reports from Karl-Heinz Ziethen in Germany and Lindsey Lesley in Scotland. After a few years of only sporadically published photographs (often the money required for this added expense was donated by an interested member) more pictures began to appear under the editorship of Roger Dollarhide, along with more how-to articles.

 

Although the lot of the editors was not always a happy one, they kept the young IJA together during difficult years, sustained it during the lean years and pumped it full of enthusiasm as it grew.