Maggie McCormick, Office Manager, 1985-1993: There were many moments in Paper knowing that the world was changing. I saw one of the premieres of LL Cool J.
Fenton Bailey, producer, former newspaper columnist: The vibe was, “Hip-hop is a fad. It will come and go.” This was not the position of the card.
Dennis Drmody, film critic, 1986-2017: I got a call from David Hershkowitz. He said, “Listen, we need a film critic, and I hear you go to the movies all the time. We don’t pay.” And I said, “Well, that solves fate.” But who else would allow me to publish an article called “How to Cook and Eat Macaulay Culkin”?
Christine Molk, Managing Editor, 1994-2000: I have to ask the bell if she’ll write a column for us. I said, “I can only pay you $100 a month, but I promise I won’t change a word.” She said, “Baby, that’s the sweetest, sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Yes!”
Eileen Miles, Poet and Activist: I had just run for president, so I had this over-the-top idea of who I was, and I didn’t know where I was going next, and these guys offered me this opportunity to be on their web. I wrote down everything the hell I could think of — millennial cults, labor movements, being gay living in the country. It was wide open.
Denise Drmody: We were doing the April Fools’ Day issue in 1995, the year Disney was putting out “Pocahontas.” So I wrote this hilarious article about how I saw a show of it that was rotten and dirty and was going to get an NC-17 rating. The Rome newspaper La Stampa published a big article: “Disney rocks scandal!” Disney held a press conference to say it was just a joke. David called me and said, “You have to come down here, because your article is an international incident.” I couldn’t stop laughing.