#3 Alum Update: Joel Weber

(Fishing for Striped Bass off Nantucket)

Writing a blog for my high school classmates is kind of intense. Suddenly I face a daunting question: What have I contributed to society since 1999? Err...next question! Here's the greatly abbreviated version. I attended the University of Oregon and graduated from the Honors College with a degree in magazine journalism in 2003. I was still living in Eugene later that summer when a large tree branch 60 feet above my parking spot snapped, fell, and proceeded to smash the shit out of my car. Figuring that was some kind of omen, I packed my bags and moved to the one place in the country where I wouldn't need a car and could potentially get a job at a national magazine: New York City. That was about five years ago. I got my start at Men's Journal and moved to Best Life, which is published by Men's Health, last year. My job title is Senior Associate Editor. I write stories, assign stories, edit stories, make television and radio appearances about stories ... and try to spread joy and promote creativity by firing a Nerf pistol and its rubber-tipped missiles at my colleagues.

It's kind of amazing how many people from our class I've managed to keep in touch with. I'd say I've connected with about 50 people since graduation ... and somehow that relatively small number feels oddly impressive as it represents a tenth of our class. There must have been something in the water, because we've done well. We're lawyers, teachers, mothers, fathers, entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, dentists, publicists, scholars, artists, contractors, electricians ... the list goes on and on. More importantly, we're good eggs.
The stories that will get shared at next summer's reunion are going to be priceless, and the only way you're going to hear them is to be there. That probably sounds vaguely similar to a pitch during a PBS fund raiser, but I'm being sincere. I look forward to seeing you there!

Yrs, Joel
joelnweber@gmail.com

(Lake Powell's beauty inspired me to drink a cold Tecate)

(My girlfriend, Laurel, and I at my cousin's wedding last June.)