ARRLWeb: ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, to Retire

ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, will retire June 1.

Rick chats with ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, while covering the 2006 AMSAT Symposium/Amateur Radio on the International Space Station International Conference in San Francisco.

Rick operates QRP CW as YS1/N1RL from Sonsonate, El Salvador, while there for a church-sponsored house building project in July 2004.

ARRL News Editor Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA.

NEWINGTON, CT, May 9, 2007 -- ARRL Senior News Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, will retire from the Headquarters staff on Friday, June 1. Assistant Editor Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, has been named ARRL News Editor, effective May 1. Lindquist, who turns 62 this month, came to the League from The Roanoke Times in Southwest Virginia 12 years ago. He began his Headquarters tenure as QST "Product Review" editor while juggling News Bureau duties on the side. A couple of years later, he shifted to covering Amateur Radio news fulltime as part of the League's initiative to feature news and features on its Web site.

"It's been a great ride, and -- thanks to the great folks on staff -- I've learned a lot, but it's time to throttle back, shift into the slow lane and coast a bit," said Lindquist, who lives with his wife Jean Collier, N1MJC, in Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. "For starters, I hope to get on the air more frequently and attend to our somewhat neglected clock collection." Lindquist has dabbled in collecting, restoring and repairing vintage clocks for several years and says it's been a great second hobby. A radio amateur for 49 years, he's also a mobile CW, contesting, vintage radio and boating enthusiast.

During his time at League Headquarters, Lindquist has prepared and edited the "Happenings" news column for QST plus most of the news items and announcements appearing on the ARRL Web site. In addition, he has compiled and edited The ARRL Letter, a weekly Amateur Radio newsletter. The former radio and TV broadcaster also has voiced, edited and produced ARRL Audio News, a Web/podcast he launched in 1997, and he has edited the Web site youth, QRP, "The Amateur Amateur" and the Amateur Radio Direction Finding columns.

The ARRL Letter now circulates to some 66,000 League members each week, while the Webcast airs over nearly 240 repeaters and other on-air outlets in the US and around the world.

ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, said it's been his privilege to work with Lindquist. "Rick has been our news editor and reporter through many of the major events in Amateur Radio, including 911, Katrina, and the elimination of the Morse code requirement," Kramer said. "He has been the print and audio voice of the ARRL both during these events and he has reported them accurately, incisively and engagingly."

After June 1, Lindquist will continue his association with the ARRL as a freelance writer/editor. He will also take over from Keane as Managing Editor of National Contest Journal (NCJ).

An ARRL Life Member, Keane joined the Headquarters staff a little over a year ago, arriving at the ARRL by way of Texas, California and Chile. She and her husband, Michael, K1MK, live in Watertown, Connecticut; Michael is the ARRL Connecticut Section State Government Liaison. Keane has served as Public Information Coordinator, but will step down to Public Relations Officer in June.

Keane took and passed her General class exam before the licensing rules changed in February. "Michael has been licensed for almost 40 years, and after you've been married to an avid ham for 14 years, you find you've picked up quite a bit along the way," she said.

A proud graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas (hence the call sign!), Keane majored in journalism, history and English, with a minor in photography. She has previously led political campaigns in Connecticut, worked for the Boy Scouts of America and headed up the news department for her local newspaper.

At ARRL Headquarters, Khrystyne prepares and edits feature articles for the ARRL Web site, including "Surfin'," as well as for QST and for NCJ. She currently serves as Managing Editor for NCJ. She's also been a contributor to ARRL Audio News, which she'll be taking over on a regular basis.

She and her husband have two sons. "Sean loves ham radio," Khrystyne says of her seven-year-old. "He knows more country prefixes than I do, and Lynn, 9, is getting into it, too. They love Field Day and going up to Massachusetts to 'play radio' at K1TTT's station."

In what's left of her spare time, Khrystyne is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and serves as an officer in her chapter. She enjoys reading -- including perusing ham radio catalogs -- and completing a needlepoint rug she started more than 10 years ago when she lived in Chile.

"Working at the League is something I have wanted to do ever since I learned about the ARRL," Keane commented. "You could say that this is a dream come true. I am honored that I was chosen to fill Rick's shoes. His help and the guidance of the editorial staff here definitely will make a challenging job easier."