When Polly Bond agreed to edit Church Life, the monthly publication of the Diocese of Ohio, she thought she was embarking on a ministry to and with the people of that diocese. She was actually beginning a ministry that would eventually touch Episcopalians and other Christians in many other places as well.

There had long been some communication among editors of diocesan publications. But prior to 1971 it had been unstructured and rather sporadic. It was in that year that Isabel Baumgartner, editor of the Tennessee Churchman, wrote to her colleagues to invite them to meet with her in New York City on a certain date in May. There were stories to share and some problems to be addressed. Ms. Baumgartner and some others thought it was time to proceed together.

Polly Bond was one of the 11 diocesan communicators who responded to the invitation. Of those who were present, she was the least concerned with the issues and agenda of the day, and most concerned with the formation of a community. Her participation in that gathering is perhaps the greatest single reason why today's Episcopal Communicators organization grew from it. Today that organization includes most communicators who serve the Episcopal Church.

Ms. Bond was a colorful person. Color was always evident and often dominant in her clothing and related accessories. She was drab in neither writing nor speaking, and she was most at home in places of light and cheerfulness.

Polly Bond was a busy person. She made and received more phone calls in a week than her colleagues would in a month, her appointment book was a journal of overbooking, she was always just back from someplace and soon headed for someplace else. She lived each day from moment to moment and felt not a twinge of guilt at arriving late and departing early. She never wore a watch. She could arrive at a conference without a reservation and always get in. She could get a car rental company to rent her just the car she wanted when there were no cars available. She always got a room at the last minute in sold-out hotels.

She was a caring person. She was quick to greet those who were present at an event for the first time, easing the way for them to feel comfortable. She could sense trouble in another's life, and manage to offer help without prying. When a friend hurt, she hurt. When a friend celebrated, she celebrated as well.

I was editor of the Convention Daily at the 1973 General Convention in Louisville. My co-workers and I worked hard on the first issue of that paper, but not hard enough to have caught a typographical error in a headline on page 1. Polly Bond called me soon after the paper was distributed.

"Great job on the Daily, Dick! Great job," she said.

"Well," I replied, "I guess you saw the typo on page 1."

"Sure did," she said. "God did that, you know."

"God did that?" What on earth was Polly Bond talking about?

"Yes, God wanted that typo there to keep you from being too swelled-headed."

And so it went for those of us who knew her.

Within a few years after that convention, cancer had struck Polly Bond. She did not get to meetings as often, she called on the phone less, she moved more slowly - none of which diminished her place in the community of Episcopal communication folk she had helped to fashion and nurture. She used a wheelchair at the last Episcopal Communicators meeting she attended, but her presence was felt as strongly as ever.

When the time came for the organization to begin noting special achievement with awards, the decision was easily made to name this new venture for Polly Bond. o

The Rev. Richard J. Anderson is the interim rector of Church of the Holy Innocents, Corte Madera, Calif., and was one of the founders of Episcopal Communicators.