Farewell and Hail

Correspondence: Dr Harold Merskey, 71 Logan Avenue, London, Ontario N5Y 2P9. Telephone 519-679-1045, fax 519-679-6849, e-mail harold.merskey@sympatico.ca With this issue, I will have completed 12 years as the founding Editor-in-Chief of Pain Research & Management, and will have seen 10 years of its publication. The work has rarely been a burden; the two most consistently rewarding features have been my personal interest in the content and the repeated expressions of satisfaction by members of the Canadian Pain Society and other friends. This is not the occasion to evaluate the success of the Journal, nor should I be the person to do so, but it is the occasion for me to thank those who induced me to take on the position of Editor-in-Chief of Pain Research & Management and supported my efforts. They include John Weller, who initially worked for Pulsus Group, Pulsus Group Publisher Bob Kalina and Vice-President Ann LeBlanc, as well as the Executive of the Canadian Pain Society. All of them have been unfailingly helpful and supportive. The Publisher’s commitment to developing Canadian medical journals has been a blessing to the Canadian Pain Society, and I presume to other societies as well. I can claim much experience from an author’s point of view as a result of dealing with the staff of other medical journals and publishers. Without any doubt, the copy editing provided by Pulsus Group and the production by the managing editors have been superb, as good as any, and better than most of the journals with which I have been acquainted as an author or as a member of editorial boards. Likewise, the backing from the Executive and members of the society for the journal has been unfailing. I am handing editorial charge of the Journal to Dr Kenneth Craig who will become Editor-in-Chief effective January 2006. Ken has been very successful as Editor-in-Chief of a psychology journal as well as a Past-President of the Canadian Pain Society. I will continue to read and enjoy the Journal, but it is time that I say farewell to the office of editor and hail to future issues and the next Editor-in-Chief. I expect to finish some work next year as a guest editor on a special supplement, which expresses my continuing commitment to the Journal and indicates a little of the importance that I attach to the continued existence and activities of Pain Research & Management. It is clear that I want to express my thanks and the best way I can do this is by saying that I was given a unique opportunity and appreciate the support received from all those mentioned and many others.