Each time we send a writer or a photographer out into the field, I worry about three things. Will we get the story? Will it be good enough? And will the magazine be well represented - will the people our contributors encounter understand what a premium we put on responsible journalism, professionalism, an goodwill?

This third point is critical. Over the years, the Society's writers and photographers have sometimes journeyed abroad with a fancy letter of introduction, laden with ribbons and embossments, extolling the qualifications of the bearer and seeking all possible assistance. But always, people skills have been more important than paper blandishments. Indeed, TRAVELER'S reputation rests on the abilities of our contributor-ambassadors to forge good relationships with the locals they meet.

Take the case of photographer Macduff Everton. We sent him on short notice to shoot "Home on the Island," writer Karen Connelly's account last issue of her time spent living on the Greek island of Lesvos. She had discovered the place as a young adult and has continued to return there as a sort of temporary expatriate.

After Everton returned home, we received a note from Connelly. Part of it remarked on our laborious fact-checking process. "This provided a great deal of fascination/amusement. (Do I have a cat? What color is it?)" Mostly, though, she dwelt on the impression Everton had made on her intensely close-knit community, one not used to American tourists.