Back in 1992, Marc Smirnoff decided to publish a magazine that would focus on the American South, an area considered complex and vital by Mr. Smirnoff. Hence, a magazine dedicated to all things Southern.
The Oxford American enjoys a fine reputation, never creating any controversy in the quiet publishing stream.
So it comes as a huge surprise to learn that Mr. Smirnoff was given the sack.
The founder. The editor. Shown the door.
Managing editor Carol Ann Fitzgerald joined her boss in the departure. No surprise there. They dated and lived together. Might as well get fired together.
In the meantime, publisher Warwick Sabin will sit in as editor to keep the magazine running, with the existing contingent of interns putting things together so that the 1 September issue can be published on time.
Why were two key employees let go so abruptly? Considering that Mr. Smirnoff is the only editor that the Oxford American has ever had, it is particularly shocking.
It's all confidential, according to Mr. Sabin.
Employees noted that something was up when they found their office at the University of Central Arkansas locked. As far as anyone knows, some sort of personnel audit was underway, but what that might mean exactly is anyone;s guess.
And it's a situation that's ripe for guessing.
Mr. Smirnoff thinks he's been set up by a disgruntled former employee seeking payback. He bases his assumptions on the sort of questions he was asked by the Oxford American Literary Project board at a recent hearing. It was after that hearing that he was summarily sacked.
Mr. Smirnoff and Ms. Fitzgerald have hired attorneys to fight back for them in what they see as an unfair dismissal.
The case will drag on, of course, as legal cases do, and accusations will fly. Reputations will be sullied.
And the entire scenario will demonstrate the complexity and vitality of university politics in the State of Arkansas, in the heart of the American South.
But we all love a good scandal, wherever we may live.
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