The 2022-23 Guide to Yellow Springs
- Published: October 13, 2022
In its earliest incarnations in the 1980s, the Guide to Yellow Springs aimed to sketch the character of the village by describing its people, places and things to a wide audience of “newcomers, visitors and lifelong residents.”
“The View from Yellow Springs” is (yet another) deliberate reworking of the famous and oft-imitated, oft-parodied March 29, 1976 New Yorker magazine cover by Saul Steinberg, depicting a New Yorker’s view of the world from Ninth Avenue. While the original was meant to poke gentle fun at New Yorkers’ perception of their city as the center of the world, this cover is meant to convey the disproportionate influence that the small town of Yellow Springs has had on the world at large. Rendered from a composite of aerial photographs courtesy of Bryan Cady. —Matt Minde
And since those early days, the staff of the Yellow Springs News have discussed at length how — and, invariably, whether or not — to broaden, narrow or shift the focus of the Guide.
We’ve changed the physical dimensions of the publication over time, as well as what and how we write. Early Guides — particularly pre-Internet — tried to be comprehensive, to varying degrees of success. These days, rather than attempting to, say, draw an all-inclusive map of the village — metaphorically speaking, as this year’s Guide has more maps than ever before — we focus our writing on a different, relatively narrow theme each year. Doing so allows us to paint select, detailed portraits. As time goes on, our mosaic grows.
This year’s theme meditates on the work of some of the village’s best-known — or, occasionally, little-remembered — innovators. We honed in on their revolutionary inventions, pioneering patents and novel ideas that originated within the 2.7 square miles of Yellow Springs.
In some cases, those contributions left the confines of our village to reshape the world at large, changing our understanding of it and our relationship to one another. Over time, certain villagers redefined entire fields of study, transformed whole genres of popular culture and inspired disciplinary advances.
In other instances, contributions have been more subtle and localized. These impacts may only be seen or felt right here in Yellow Springs, amounting to the unique character of the village that so clearly distinguishes us from other Ohio communities.
In adhering to that theme of meaningful contributions, we’ve encountered all-too-familiar questions about the mission of the Guide at large: Who should this be about, and who should this be for?
The choice of who and what to write about in the history of this dynamic village is always something of an embarrassment of riches. Simply put, we aren’t able to cover everything we want to cover in 96 pages. Those acquainted with village history will no doubt find people and things they wish were included, so we hope to revisit this theme again in a future Guide and in the pages of our weekly newspaper. Do stay tuned.
Choosing an audience is often more difficult. When considering what Yellow Springs has contributed to the world, we’ve lingered over not only the lasting impacts of those contributions, but also how those impacts may be interpreted by the readers of this Guide.
For visitors, we simply hope this publication helps tell the story of the village from the point of view of its residents. A great deal has come from our tiny town, and we want to tell you about it.
And for our residents, whether lifelong or new — you who have made and will continue to make the village what it is — we hope to provide something a little deeper. This year’s Guide to Yellow Springs could remind you of what you love about your hometown — the passion and innovation with which Yellow Springs has long defined itself — and makes you proud to live here. Perhaps this publication inspires you to contribute to the rich tradition of thinking outside the box to make the world and our little corner of it better places.
Our history isn’t over. There’s still much to do. And as you continue to contribute and innovate, the Yellow Springs News will be there to chronicle it.
—Reilly Dixon & Lauren “Chuck” Shows
(Click here to view the original March 29, 1976 New Yorker magazine cover by Saul Steinberg)
• Pick up the print edition of the Guide to Yellow Springs in and around town, for free, or view the online version below (if you can’t see it, give it a moment to load).
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Nicely done! The Rod Serling story was great.