Editor Notes: From and Fuller Get a Week Off, George Merrill’s Return, and COVID Reports

After over a year of weekly commentary, the Spy’s friends Al From and Craig Fuller have been granted their first break from their popular From and Fuller podcast in honor of Memorial Day Weekend. They will return to their seats next week to share their unique points of view of American politics and inside Beltway perspectives.

Their absence gives me a long-overdue opportunity to thank Al and Craig for contributing their time and talent to the Spy. Given their extraordinary backgrounds, it remains astonishing to me as the Spy’s publisher and executive editor that they have been willing to participate every week with this modest nonprofit media outlet.

Nonetheless, over the last 13 months, these two Washington pros have developed a substantial following, not only on the Shore, but accordingly to our Google Analytics reports, nationally as well, including having the show be re-broadcasted several times by the highly regarded Real Clear Politics network. This is also true with our partner WHCP Community Radio in Cambridge.

While both confess their motivation is based on a lifelong passion for politics and a friendship that has existed for decades, the Spy remains humbled by this extraordinary gift to the communities we serve and the thousands of followers they have attracted in the last year.

Speaking of a large fan base, many readers have reached out to us recently inquiring about the absence of the Spy’s Sunday columnist, George Merrill. While we noted in George’s last column a few weeks ago that George had requested a mini-sabbatical, it was exciting news to hear from him yesterday that he plans to return to his column starting in early July.

As we highlighted in our editor’s note to readers in his last column in May, George has graced the pages of the Spy with now some 330 commentaries with his beautifully nuanced, playful, but ultimately powerful moral observations since 2015. And like our friends, From and Fuller, he too has developed a loyal following of thousands over the year, who has made his Sunday morning essays part of their weekend ritual. As one of those fans, I eagerly await his return.

Finally, the Spy has recently decided that we will be ending our daily COVID reports at the end of June. While we reserve the right to change our minds if circumstances dictate it, the Mid-Shore will soon reach such a reduced level of risk and such a high rate of vaccinations for us to conclude that this devastating health crisis has reached the end of its horrific existence.

I want to once again make note of the Spy’s public affairs editor, John Griep, for his exceptional work on collecting and reporting data on this evil pandemic. For the last fourteen months, John has not missed a day in sharing critical important information to the region, as well as providing thoughtful analysis of what those numbers have meant for the communities we serve. I remain, as do countless Spy readers, profoundly grateful to John for this true public service.

Dave Wheelan
Publisher and Executive Editor