Conception

20th Anniversary | What happened 20 years ago was sublimely out of the ordinary and common to man | Mindy Belz

Babies, like magazine deadlines, come in the dark of night, just when taxes are due, unseasonably early or bewilderingly late. But if it's news you want, both hold promise. WORLD was conceived the same year as my eldest and erupted into a life of its own just as she took hold of her parents' hearts. The passions of parenting and publishing would intersect from then on in ways I could not conceive.

Into a second trimester sufficiently to be out of morning sickness, I accepted an offer from Joel Belz (mentor and brother-in-law extraordinaire) to write a story for the first issue on a then-lively budget proposal coined Gramm-Rudman. I was a novice at journalism but had Capitol Hill experience and contacts. Joel had little reason for his confidence in me, but he had pages to fill.