Kerstin Weng
Patricia Riekel
I had to suffer today when I opened the newest German Instyle and saw that the letter by the editor-in-chief was NOT written by Patricia Riekel. Having left Germany a while back, getting my German Instyle fix has been somewhat a must -even if it tended happening less and less. But every time I did get my hands on one the one page I tended to linger on the most was Patricia's letter. She is one those journalistic talents that draw one in; her mind is sharp, her tongue is like ice but her irony and humour are the definite caramel on top. When she writes, it matters, it does something to you, it provokes gently, kindly, forcefully, pleadingly, provokingly, questioningly. Where German Instyle is the epitome of style/fashion, Patricia physically did not embody what you expected an editor to look like but her intellect and her word choice made up for this trebly.
Patricia reminds me of a writer that has a beauty column in the ES Magazine one can pick up on Fridays in London. Similar fierceness and punchiness.
After researching into the manifested changes I learnt that not only Riekel stepped away but also Annette Weber, the long-time editor-in-chief of German Instyle and admittedly a super-mind as with her direction the magazine sales have been tremendous over the last couple of years.
So when I had recovered from my instant 'shock' and did read the letter of the editor-in-chief - the new one that is- I was slightly pleased. It was not as bad as I had anticipated it to be. Yet it was also not as glorious as Patricia's letters used to be. Again this was to be expected when someone new appears.
But let's wait and see as quality only truly manifests itself when in a consistent continuum.
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